I don't believe David Stern has jurisdiction over the entire basketball world; it just seems like that's the case occasionally. It'd be silly to think, however, that Stern won't have words with leaders of Euroleague and the Israeli Basketball Association after Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Pini Gershon held up his team's exhibition game against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden for nearly 10 minutes by refusing to leave the court when an NBA replacement referee ejected him.
As Gershon made his point, drawing NBA security officials over to plead for his cooperation, the crowd (and Knicks) waited. Eventually, a prominent Israeli rabbi (!) convinced Gershon to leave the court so the game could resume. The New York Post suggests Knicks prez Donnie Walsh left the Garden infuriated at the behavior. I can't imagine Stern -- who bristles at any criticism of any refs the league employs -- felt differently.
But Maccabi in particular remains a huge draw as the first team of Israel. The Kings are in the planning stages to hold an exhibition in Tel Aviv next fall, with rookie Omri Casspi -- who in a few weeks will become the first Israeli to play in the NBA -- as the connection. Stern will likely do little more than politely ask future visiting teams to respect NBA officials, whether they are replacements or not.
Can the NBA Fine Maccabi's Coach?
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10/19/2009 9:38 AM ET By Tom Ziller
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- Tom Ziller
- Tom Ziller is an NBA Blogger for FanHouse
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I doubt he will be fined. Stern has jurisdiction only over the NBA, meaning he can't decide about matters concerning international basketball. It's up to the Israeli League or the Euroleague decide what to do (and, knowing them, chances are they won't do anything, which would be a shame). I don't know if the fact it happened during an NBA preseason game changes things, but I still doubt Stern can do anything about it.