As Brian Floyd wrote earlier, David Stern and the NBA are lacking things in many areas, especially in the area of public relations. An interview today with Brian Mahoney of the AP showcased this perfectly.
Want the jist of the interview? Stern has no idea what he's doing and the NBA is dying a slow death because of it
The audio (Passed along by SLAM Online) can be heard here, but I'll have it transcribed below, after the jump.
Mahoney: You don't think there's any kind of conflict or anything like that that he recently moved a team?
Stern: I don't think there's any conflict at all. It might help, maybe, if he get's into negotiations with Sacramento.
(Long Pause)
Mahoney: In what regard? I'm sorry, I missed that there...
Stern: Well what would the conflict be? What's your issue with respect to an alleged conflict.
Mahoney: A lot of people, reading across Twitter and everything, were surprised that someone who had moved a team would be in charge of the relocation committee of the next team
Stern: And that's what I said, and maybe Sacramento will think the same thing you do, although I don't, that he favors movement. In this case he favors what's best for the league and the Kings.
Mahoney: Ok, well thank you.
Stern: Thank you. Keep tweeting.
Now, as a preface, I don't know, from that 45 second clip, what the context is. What I can tell, from that 45 second clip, is that Stern took these questions to be a surprise accusation and a personal attack, something that he had to see coming. The fact that Stern has, or has had in the past, a close relationship with Bennett is sure to turn heads whenever an appointment like this is made and if Stern had thought for a second before doing an interview, he would have prepared for a question like this.
Stern says that Bennett's previous experience may, in fact, be an asset to the city of Sacramento once he starts negotiations... And he stops it there. He doesn't go on to explain how he can help the city. The fact is, the only thing Bennett has experience with relocation is taking teams from a city, implying that he has some kind of experience that could help a city keep a team from moving isn't just factually and morally wrong, it make Stern look like he is protecting someone. Who is he protecting? Himself? Bennett? The Maloof brothers? The answer just might be all of the above.
While it may or may not be true, Stern looks like he is just appeasing the parties that he's close with, and he doesn't care how it looks to the outside world.
Not only did Stern's interview make him look like a complete fool, the ending just confirmed how out of touch he is:
Thank you. Keep Tweeting.
It's funny how with one sentence said in a certain tone of voice can show just how out of touch with society someone can be. Twitter is the top news source in current day America, and as soon as Mahoney mentions that he's been hearing reaction on Twitter, Stern audibly scoffs at him (33 seconds into the audio clip).
Stern has lost it. He doesn't know a thing about public relations and came into this interview totally unprepared. a little bit of preparation and time contemplating answers to questions anyone would know that he would be asked would have allowed Stern to come out smelling like roses. But that didn't happen. Stern seemed surprised, angry and all around unprofessional.
The NBA is in trouble. David Stern is just making things worse.
Read More: Clay Bennett, The NBA Relocation Committee And David Stern's Public Relations Ineptitude