The complaints you guys have about officiating favoring the superstars go right to the doorstep of David Stern. He has orchestrated all of the bullshit in the NBA in the name of marketing and growth. Superstars and big market teams have sold merchandise and generated ratings because IMO unlike the NFL, he didn't feel the purity of their game stood on its own. He has largely been successful in his approach, but I question the sustainability of a superstar driven league considering how the NFL got to where it is was based on parity and competition. Perhaps because there's only 5 guys on the floor at any one time the superstar driven model of he NBA will continue. I have doubts because I believe at some point people in Cleveland, Sacramento, Toronto, etc. are going to get bored as hell with the endless losing and just quit on being fans of the game and not bother to show up/watch even when LeBron comes to town.
One thing I do know though, Stern screwed the city of Seattle mightily and for that I hope he rots in hell.