On Wednesdays episode of “The Jim Rome Show”, host Jim Rome had NBA Commissioner David Stern on as a guest. During the interview, Rome brought up the recent NBA Draft Lottery and questioned its legitimacy to Stern.
“New Orleans won the draft lottery, which of course produced the usual round of speculation that maybe the lottery was fixed. Was the fix in for the lottery?”
David then answered it to the best of his ability….
“I have two answers for that. I’ll give you the easy one — no. And a statement: shame on you for asking.”
The two then exchanged heated words as Stern was clearly offended by the question. Then, in a shocking turn, David Stern asked host Rome if he still beats his wife.
“Have you stopped beating your wife yet?”
Rome didn’t feel that it was fair for Stern to bring up his wife when his question of whether or not the Draft was fixed seemed reasonable in his mind…
“I don’t know if that’s fair. People really do think it. The league does own the team. Does that not make the question fair?”
Stern and Rome then proceeded to go back and forth with sarcastic comments directed at one another. Stern believes that Rome “makes a career” out of causing controversy while all Rome was trying to do was ask a question that the fans of the NBA clearly wanted answers too.
You can check out the full interview below….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi2kH4U7E8A&feature=youtu.be
FINAL THOUGHTS
Wow!
Whether you agree with the Commissioner or not, this interview just puts more of a dark cloud over the head of David Stern.
How else was he supposed to answer Rome’s question? He was very much caught off guard and was aggravated, confused and p***ed off, dare I say.
Regardless of that, the “beating your wife” comment was completely out of line. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things.
Stern chose the wrong way.
Was Rome wrong in asking whether the Lottery was fixed? I don’t feel that he was. I believe it was a legitimate question that many wanted answers too. I even wrote an article discussing my opinions on the matter (I do believe that something shady was going on during that lottery).
You can add this interview to the Chris Paul vetoed trade, the shortened NBA season and possibly the NBA Draft Lottery for moments that have tarnished Sterns reputation in recent memory.
Is this man really running the National Basketball Association?
UPDATE
Jim Rome has now come forward with his thoughts on the now infamous David Stern interview.
“I was shocked. I really was stunned. He and I have a long history. I’ve interviewed him dozens of times probably, on radio and TV over the years. Sometimes the interviews are a little more contentious than others, depending on the line of questioning and the mood he’s in. “When I asked that question, I did not in any way expect that response. To be honest, I thought it was a softball question. It would have been an easy opportunity for him to address something that’s out there and that he would just summarily dismiss it out of hand. I had no idea he would get that upset. I was shocked by it.”
“A lot of people don’t know that phrase, so they thought it was extremely out of line,” said Rome, who is married with two sons. “I understood it, I knew where he was going with it. I thought it was inappropriate because, what it is, it’s a rhetorical device to insinuate I asked him a loaded question. I don’t think my question to him was loaded. I thought it was a very simple and very direct question. I thought the blog Deadspin hit it perfectly. Had I asked the question, ‘When did you start fixing the draft lottery?’ that would have been a more appropriate response. It would have been a loaded question, but I don’t think my question was loaded.”
Christopher Walder is a sports blogger and lead editor for Sir Charles in Charge. You may follow him on Twitter @WalderSports