Jamal takes a look at the NBA in his weekly blog

David Stern is the best commissioner in sports and has been for some time. Since being elected the fourth commissioner in league history in 1984, Stern brought

David Stern is the best commissioner in sports and has been for some time. Since being elected the fourth commissioner in league history in 1984, Stern brought the NBA to new levels and weathered many a storm. Now it doesn’t hurt that in his first few years as the boss he had a young up-and-coming superstar named Michael Jordan and 2 championship-winning stars named Larry Bird and Magic Johnson to push his product. But out of the 4 major sports commissioners, Stern is the one who could best handle a scandal such as this one, one he calls the “worst situation” of his tenure: An NBA referee who is accused of betting on games, including some of which he officiated.

Stern has been working with the NBA since 1978 and during that time he has helped develop what the league now knows as free agency, he has added 7 NBA franchises, increased global interest by broadcasting the NBA to 215 countries, and developed professional sports' first anti-drug agreement. He has had to ban players for drug abuse, deal with prominent players legal troubles (I.E. Kobe Bryant) and he has always acted quickly and accordingly to any incident, such as he did in handing out suspensions like candy after “Malice ant the Palace”. Stern has never turned a blind eye toward something that could potentially harm the NBA just so he can increase the sports popularity. Just look how players accepted his “Dress Code” policy after they realized any effort to fight it would be useless.

  

But this is a new challenge. What if it comes out that this referee made calls in the games he officiated that directly affected the outcome of the game? What if other NBA refs are involved? Stern is capable of dealing with this situation the right way, insuring that justice prevails, and attempting to make sure this will never happen again. He is working with the FBI to solve this quickly and correctly. But I have a feeling that even if Stern had to deal with this issue by himself, he would do what he has always done when faced with adversity: approach the situation knowledgably, and patiently until he has resolved the problem accordingly. The NBA has been lucky to have a commissioner of Stern’s degree as long as it has, and while this scandal may be potentially harming to the NBA, Stern is the right man to clean it up.