David Stern Deserves Chorus of Boos for Jim Rome Wife-Beating Question

It's not exactly Jim Everett leaping over to strangle a young, brash Jim Rome, but David Stern asking the radio host about wife beating is close. 

David Stern has had just about enough of the "Lottery is Rigged" talk. Sure there is enough smoke to expect at least a small brush fire, but he would like to move on to more important matters. 

Stern was on Jim Rome's radio show today and things went from awkward to ugly rather quickly. In the midst of it all, Stern asked Rome if he had stopped beating his wife, a loaded question that doesn't mean Rome has ever laid a hand on anyone, much less his wife. 

However, it speaks volumes on Stern and his I can do anything I please bravado. 

Here is how CBS Sports' Matt Norlander saw the exchange in his Twitter report of the matter.

"

@TheBigLead David Stern asked Jim Rome if he'd stopped beating his wife yet after Stern objected to Rome's Q about the lottery being rigged.

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) June 13, 2012"

When pressed as to whether this was a joke or not, Norlander confirms it was a silly comment through this tweet.

"

@TheBigLead Stern was mock-asking the Q to state his point: his beat-your-wife quip, to him, was as ludicrous as asking if lotto was rigged.

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) June 13, 2012"

The conversation turned hilariously ugly when Stern stated that Jim Rome made a career on cheap tricks such as asking about the NBA lottery being rigged. 

He then throws one more jab at Rome by saying he has to go call someone important like Stephen A. Smith. 

Deadspin has audio of the brief and contentious exchange. 

Sure the question was loaded and we all know that Stern was not inferring that Rome beats his wife. This would be the same as going up to Blake Griffin and asking him how he enjoys flopping every single time he is touched. 

Actually, he does rather enjoy flopping, so I guess that would be slightly different. I have never been good at philosophical exchanges so I move on. 

While the question was a loaded one, it was loaded with ammunition that would no doubt touch the Internet and set Twitter and other engines ablaze. 

I could write thousands of words but I think Robert Littal of Black Sports Online sums it up nicely.

"

Stern could have been sarcastic without using a domestic violence response...

— Robert Littal (@BlkSportsOnline) June 13, 2012"

Sure it was a device and not a real question, but Stern took the conversation from sports ridiculous to an odd and dark place. 

Like that awkward friend we all have that turns all the laughs into awkward pauses with but one comment. 

This really isn't about the comment though, because it was brushed aside by Rome as it should have been. It's about a commissioner who walks and talks better than anyone around. 

Remember all that vitriol that boiled over when he destroyed the Lakers trade at the start of the season? Yeah, that pretty much dissolved in a flash. 

The NBA czar, I mean commissioner, continues to do as he likes. 

Follow me on Twitter for more Davis Stern love poems. 

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