The NBA is Quickly Becoming the National Bunder Association

During the NBA's summer of confusion, disarray and discontent, there have been enough negative news stories that have served to embarrass the once proud league, and they did not all involve LeBron James. Now, just when the fans had started to care only about the news between the lines, the league embarrasses itself once again.

Recently, Portland Trailblazer guard Rudy Fernandez, through his agent, voiced his displeasure with the NBA in general and the Trailblazer organization specifically. Fernandez stated that he would rather sit out the final two years of his contract, and then play in Europe rather than return to Portland, and for his honesty, the NBA fined the guard $25,000. The ruling behind it was "conduct detrimental to the league", but one would think that if a player were unhappy with the NBA, so much so that he was willing to throwaway two years of salary and two prime years of his career, and then play in Europe, the league would do anything it could to make him happy and fining him, even a small amount like it was, is not the way.

Rudy Fernandez, though not one of the top-10 players in the league, is a dynamic, exciting player who, in the right organization, would be a box office asset to the team and the league. Unfortunately, Portland, Oregon does not have the largest Hispanic population of all of the teams in the NBA. Cities like Los Angeles, New York and anywhere in Texas would be more ideal to be able to capitalize on Fernandez and the ever growing Hispanic contingent within the league.

Fernandez's beef is the fact that he no longer wishes to play in Portland and would prefer to ply his trade elsewhere because he feels as if he could contribute with regular playing time. Consequently, the Blazers and head coach Nate McMillan feel as if Fernandez, at least for the time being, better serves the team in a limited minutes reserve role. Though this does not seem as if it were an insurmountable impasse, Fernandez feels as if it is, and feels that the only way that he can achieve his goal of being a regular contributor to a franchise is to play somewhere else. Unfortunately for Fernandez, league rules do not prevent him from feeling this way, and perhaps every reserve player in the league shares his feelings. However, voicing those feelings publicly is considered "conduct detrimental to the league", which is why Fernandez was fined.

Sadly, with the debacle surrounding players colluding to play together, players demanding trades so that they can form super teams, players getting beat up by their wives, divorces, accusations of infidelity and the various visits to the police blotter, one would think that the league would do whatever it could to present a better image for itself. Fining a player for being unhappy is perhaps pushes him out the league's door more quickly, but rules are rules. I just hope that when he leaves, and other players follow suit, the league is satisfied with the collection of players who will be electing to take high school equivalency exams so that they can forgo their senior years in high school and spend two years playing in Greece before becoming eligible for the NBA Draft. Between these unprepared children and the diva superstars, the league should thrive like never before.