Is David Stern a Coward? A corollary of the argument that the fans are to blame is that David Stern was wrong in reprimanding the players and not the fans in his press conference on Sunday. I think this is misguided for a few reasons.



One, as I said below, the players should shoulder the majority of the blame, and thus, they should have received the majority of the reprimand.



Besides that, however, ultimately Stern is not responsible for the fans. He is responsible for the players and the teams, but it is the teams that must control their fans. You can argue that Stern and the NBA are responsible for everything in the league, including the fans, but a team has to control the individuals that come into its arena. Thus, it would be more appropriate for the team owner, and not Stern, to publicly reprimand the fans.



But neither one of them will do this for the most obvious reason: the fans are the life-blood of the league. Stern and the owners are businessmen, and you do not insult your clients. Without the fans, there is no NBA. There are no teams; there are no owners; there are no multi-million dollar salaries. Stern cannot risk this and he knows it. One can calls this cowardly, but I call it a shrewd business practice. Let the police and stadium officials deliver punishments; Stern is in no position to punish and thus is not going to lecture. Why take that chance? He has directed the NBA teams to beef up security and they have done so. Players are not in danger. And Stern wisely, in my opinion, is not going to bite the hand that feeds him because a few fans crossed the line.

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