David Stern is a consummate marketer. He may have been trained as a lawyer and got his job because he used to the NBA general counsel, but he has kept it so long and earned the reputation he now has because he is focused above all on the image of the NBA and its players and marketing them to its sponsors and potential sponsors. That is why it is important to not take his pronouncements about the state of the league too literally. While he delivers his annual State of the NBA speech at the...