In the midst of the lavish hedonism and the assorted dunking and three-point contests featuring players with game but not name and the faux, contrived scrimmages, the league elders are meeting in seclusion. What they have is a league on the run, and they know it. The commissioner, David Stern, has made the rounds, spinning the good spin, doing the verbal crossover. No panic, he says, soothingly. Everything is cyclical.
Some retreat is inevitable.
What is happening now does bear a resemblance to the situation 20 to 25 years ago, when the NBA was barely ahead of hockey in fan interest, and circumstances were much more foreboding than they are now. Teams were awash in red ink, players were awash in drugs, and the public perception was of a game too black. Then came Doc. Followed by Magic and Larry. There was an air of dignified statesmanship about them.