Ralph Nader's letter to David Stern after being disgraced by the bad calls in Game 6 of Kings vs. Lakers in 2002 (the very game that Tim Donaghy says, via his lawyer's court filing, was fixed) included this interesting section: "It seems that you have a choice. You can continue to exercise your absolute power to do nothing. Or you can initiate a review and if all these observers and fans turn out to be right, issue, together with the referees, an apology to the Sacramento Kings and forthrightly admit decisive incompetence during Game 6, especially in the crucial fourth quarter. You should know, however, that absolute power, if you choose the former course of inaction, invites the time when it is challenged and changed -- whether by more withdrawal of fans or by more formal legal or legislative action. No government in our country can lawfully stifle free speech and fine those who exercise it; the NBA under present circumstances can both stifle and fine players and coaches who speak up. There is no guarantee that this tyrannical status quo will remain stable over time, should you refuse to bend to reason and the reality of what occurred. A review that satisfies the fans' sense of fairness and deters future recurrences would be a salutary contribution to the public trust that the NBA badly needs."
Timberwolf Mark Madsen wants Kevin Garnett to win a ring, but he'd rather see his former team, the Lakers win instead. He also writes: "I cannot believe that Flip Saunders was fired. I cannot believe it. This man can flat out coach and while I hope that the Pistons have success in the future, let's not forget that Flips tenure as head coach of Detroit took the Pistons deep into the playoffs every year. Coaching is not an exact science and it's not easy at the NBA level with mature and grown men all of whom have strong competitive natures. I wish Detroit well, but they lost a gem with Flip. ... I enjoyed watching Kobe tonight. It's nice when you see someone care so much about what they do as Kobe cares about his profession. Phil Jackson used to put us in the video room and show us film. 'Fellas ... like it or not, what you see on the game film is what the fans see ... this is your livelihood. It should be important to you.'"
Brian McCormick: "In all the hoopla of re-living the 1980's and trying to turn KG vs Kobe into Bird vs Magic, has anyone noticed how poorly played this series is? If this was San Antonio vs Detroit, that's all anyone would talk about. ... It was sloppy. It was poorly officiated (honestly, in Game 2 I didn't notice many bad calls, beyond Paul Pierce's ability to play without a pivot foot. Tonight, I thought the officiating was awful in both directions). Even the free throw shooting, especially by the team's best free throw shooters, was awful. Kobe is quickly losing all the good karma he built during the regular season as he no longer trusts his teammates and he sulks through the entire game. Of course, few of his teammates appear to offer anything in this series, as Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol were awful tonight. Sasha Vujicic was really the only player who stepped-up. Maybe Odom and Gasol played good defense to force KG into an awful night. Maybe not. For all the talk of Odom's skill set, he might as well cut off his right hand. And, Gasol looked like Brad Miller around the basket."
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