FanHouse Davidstern

It was a bad week if you believe that UFOs exist, the mob killed JFK and the NBA banished Michael Jordan to Area 51 to cure his gambling addiction.

LeBron James did not make the NBA Finals. If that doesn't shoot down the whole notion of conspiracy theories, nothing will.

I don't know about you, but my heart can't take another week like the last one. It had enough suspense to qualify as an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

The only thing missing was the shower scene where a psycho Bud Selig pulls back the curtain and finds Jose Canseco injecting steroids into Alex Rodriguez's rear end. Which brings us to one of the week's riveting questions:

The FanHouse Podcast: Because bloggers are much sexier on the phone.

In Episode 24, Will and Ryan welcome FanHouse's Tom Ziller to talk NBA. The draft lottery offers a temporary respite from the playoffs, and Tom discusses the potential implications for his hometown Sacramento Kings.

The conversation also touches on David Stern, draft lottery conspirator, before continuing with the Malcolm Gladwell HausCast theme. On Monday, we talked to MDS about Gladwell's suggestion that the nothing-to-lose Detroit Lions should have run the no-huddle offense with more frequency since, you know, they had nothing to lose.

Today, Tom responds to some of the proposals born out of the 9,000-word Bill Simmons-Gladwell e-mail exchange, specifically: the merits of the full-on, full-court press, and if the reverse draft order idea makes sense.

By theory, the NBA Draft Lottery (Tuesday at 8:00 PM ET) is left to randomness. But what if, as the conspiracy-minded have insisted for more than two decades ... what if David Stern dictated the results? With the power of Merlin, who would the commissioner designate the winners of the lottery prize?

Close your eyes and imagine such a world ...

While the National Hockey League continues to fight for what they feel is right for the Phoenix Coyotes, it appears they have some friends in high places.

Commissioner Gary Bettman isn't going into this fight alone. Filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Monday included statements from the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and Major League Baseball.

Cherry Picking recaps yesterday's NBA playoff action.

My colleague Matt Steinmetz made a compelling case over the weekend that the Lakers are at a crossroads. If this team falls short of reaching the NBA Finals, should Mitch Kupchak do everything in his power to bring back the current core? Will retaining free agents like Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown result in a roster with a championship ceiling? It's too early to say, especially after the Lakers averted disaster with a Game 7 win over the Rockets.

But after watching the Celtics fall to the Magic in Game 7 at home, I can't help but think Boston's GM Danny Ainge now faces the same dilemma. Did the Celtics lose because they were unlucky victims of the injury bug, or did they lose because the roster is inherently flawed?

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TEQUESTA, Fla. -- This looked like a Bad Boys reunion.

The NBA came from around the country Wednesday to celebrate the life and mourn the death of Chuck Daly, but nothing was more impressive than his collection of pallbearers.

It was the nucleus of his two championship teams in Detroit, the ones that transformed him from just another coaching lifer into a Hall of Famer and Olympic Gold Medalist revered by all.

Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Vinnie Johnson, Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer were at his side. The Bad Boy Pistons and their leader one final time.

"I think when you go through the things we did together, there is a bond that never breaks,'' said Laimbeer. "This was a sad time, but a time to celebrate who he was, and what he did, and how loved he was.''

Remember what David Stern said after the "Malice at the Palace" riot? "The events were shocking, repulsive and inexcusable -- a humiliation for everyone associated with the NBA," the commissioner fumed in November 2004. "We must affirm that the NBA will strive to exemplify the best that can be offered by professional sports and not allow our sport to be debased by what seem to be declining expectations for the behavior of fans and athletes alike.'

Well, I'm still waiting for Stern to act on a shocking, repulsive and inexcusable chain of events in the Denver-Dallas playoff series, which began when America's most infantile 50-year-old, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, told the mother of Denver's Kenyon Martin that her son is a thug. In a league that doesn't hesitate to suspend players and announce penalties swiftly, it's unconscionable that Stern didn't instantly suspend Cuban on Monday and ban him from American Airlines Arena that night, which would have subdued an understandably enraged Martin and quelled rising tensions surrounding the episode. Instead, Stern and his minions issued no punishment to Cuban, allowing the scene in the Dallas arena to turn ugly.

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While George Karl is on the verge of leading the Denver Nuggets to their biggest playoff victory since Dikembe Mutombo was seen clutching the ball on his back chanting "Yes! We win!" in leading Denver to a shocking first-round win over the Sonics in 1994, Karl's former NBA city may be without basketball for good.

When Oklahoma City Thunder chairman Clayton Bennett left Seattle without an NBA time after 41 years in July 2008, he promised to reward the city with $30 million if antiquated KeyArena was approved for refurbishing by the conclusion of 2009 and Seattle did not have a new team by 2013.

USA Today's Chris Colston took a look at the pending NBA collective bargaining agreement negotiations through the prism of one of the league's current, fleeting points of concern (or annoyances, depending on the range of your perspective): a lot of players are hurt. The epic Bulls-Celtics series itself is missing Kevin Garnett, Luol Deng and Leon Powe, with Paul Pierce and John Salmons obviously gimpy. Every other first-round series has had injury issues.

Colston ties this to the length of the NBA regular season, long a bugaboo for pundits. Few say the regular season means nothing these days, but the complaints remain, especially as keystone players like Dwyane Wade wear down in the playoffs. Colston suggests the players union, as a condition to taking a smaller slice of the revenue pie, may demand a shorter season in those CBA negotiations.