Absurd NBA Finals Schedule Proves NBA and David Stern Don't Respect Fans

The NBA Finals schedule has been released and in typical David Stern fashion, he once again showed how very little he and the NBA cares about the fans that have supported the league for decades.

The schedule is as follows (via ProBasketballTalk) and follows the usual 2-3-2 format as the Finals always does. In addition, all games are on ABC and all times are Eastern.

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Game 1 – Tuesday at Oklahoma City 9:00 PM
Game 2 – Thursday at Oklahoma City 9:00 PM
Game 3 – Sunday at Miami 8:00 PM
Game 4 – June 19 at Miami 9:00 PM
Game 5 – June 21 at Miami 9:00 PM
Game 6 – June 24 at Oklahoma City 8:00 PM
Game 7 – June 26 at Oklahoma City 9:00 PM

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The times of the games are horrible, especially for the East Coast fans. Many of these fans who live in the east won't be able to watch the games due to the ridiculous tip-off times.

What do you expect from Stern though as he's proven time and time again that the fans, which ultimately keep his league going, are the least of his concerns.

Starting with the games to be held in Oklahoma City, is there any reason at all that they can't be played at 8:00 PM instead of 9:00 PM? It doesn't really effect the fan attending the game as starting the game at 7:00 PM local time would lead to an 8:00 PM tip-off on the East Coast.

Yet while he can't do that in order to appease all of the NBA fans across the country, the genius that Stern is has Game 6 starting at 8:00 PM EST, so why not all of the other ones?

Then there's the games in Miami.

Why in the world would he start a game in Miami at 9:00? Yet Games 4 and 5 start then while Game 3, also in Miami, starts at 8:00 PM.

Only Stern would make East Coast games start later during most peoples' work weeks.

It just shows a sheer lack of respect for his fan base. The NBA can show normal playoff games at 7 or 8:00, but they feel the need to bump a the finals to 9:00.

You would think that with LeBron James and Kevin Durant squaring off against each other that Stern would want to make sure everyone could see these games, but that's not the case because he has never cared what the fans think.

I for one won't miss a second of the action, but that likely can't be said for many people of the East coast, even though there's an east coast team playing.

For them to see much of the action it will be on SportsCenter or on their DVR's. He's taken the casual fan out of this series because it is very doubtful they stay awake that late to watch.

Shame on Stern for that, but some things never change.