Stern advice for James, Gilbert and Jesse

Basketball Betting Lines

07/13/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took the death of a true sports legend, Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner, to finally knock LeBron James and the NBA from the top of every sportscast across the country.

Conventional wisdom says David Stern was thrilled the LeBron sweepstakes kept people talking about his league during the first two weeks of July, but the commish made it clear Monday that he wasn't on board with the way his biggest star dissed the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Stern had no problem with James' change of address to Miami but wasn't thrilled with the two-time MVP's public announcement during the made-for- television special called "The Decision."

"The advice that he received on this was poor," Stern said after NBA owners meeting in Las Vegas. "The performance was fine. His honesty and his integrity, I think, shined through. But this decision was ill-conceived."

Stern was much harder on Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, fining him $100,000 for a tirade that the commissioner called "a little bit extreme."

After being spurned on national television, Gilbert released a visceral statement calling James' behavior during the special "narcissistic" and "cowardly." He followed that by telling The Associated Press in a phone interview that James quit on the Cavs during the playoffs.

It's hard to argue with narcissistic but Gilbert certainly went over the line when he called James' behavior cowardly and his decision to leave Cleveland as disloyal, charges that didn't go unnoticed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Jackson, perhaps the country's leading civil rights activist, responded to Gilbert's ill-advised remarks by upping the ante with even more explosive and ill-conceived rhetoric.

Jackson said the Cavs owner sees James as a "runaway slave" and spoke as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, perhaps the silliest comment of all-time since I don't know many slave owners that paid their property over $62 million dollars.

"However well-meaning Jesse may be in the premise on this one, he is, as he rarely is, mistaken," Stern said. "And I would have told him so had he called me before he issued his statement. But he is a good friend of the NBA and our players. Has worked arduously on many good causes and we work together in many matters."

The James-Gilbert-Jackson fiasco may have been the front page fodder but when it comes to basketball the real story coming from all of this was possible collusion -- not from the owners but the players.

When James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all decided to play together in South Beach after communicating with each other during the free-agent process. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban cried foul and wanted the league to examine the process.

Most feel the plan by the three to join forces on a so-called "Super Team" had dated all the way back to 2006 when the trio each signed shorter-than- available contracts with an eye on free agency in 2010.

"The three players are totally, as our system has evolved, within their rights to talk to each other," Stern said. "That is not tampering or collusion that is prohibited. That's our rule, right now."

According to Stern, Cuban was a lone voice and no formal complaints were levied at the Board of Governors meeting on Monday.

"Our players, having negotiated for the right to be free agents at some point in their career, are totally within their rights to seek employment with any other team," Stern said. "That's something we agreed to. That's something we embrace. That's our system."

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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