For those of us who closely follow the NBA Playoffs, we all have definitely seen it:  The Nike muppet Kobe and Lebron commericial and the Vitamin Water commercial are being shoved down our throats every TV timeout.  Add in the individual Kobe and Lebron commercials on top of those, and you feel like your in the middle of a tight presidential race.

Think of the amount of money invested in this showdown that the whole industry is pushing for…not only does it guarantee sold out stadiums with $1000+ ticket prices, but I would imagine the Vitamin Water and Nike presence on the game breaks will be like Microsoft in a computer store pre-1998: Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars of ad revenue.

We all know about the referee scandal that has tarnished the integrity of the game.  You can’t help but think with the millions being poured into what has been coined the “inevitable” matchup, that there may be some serious lobbying going on inside the trenches in the NBA.  The oil industry plays it dirty in politics, makes sense for the corporations to do the same in sports.  I highly doubt Vitamin Water and Nike have Carmelo Anthony vs. Dwight Howard commercials on stand-by (Carmelo is endorsed by Nike, Dwight by Adidas), so most likely the networks and the NBA will lose out if the matchup doesn’t happen.

I’m sure the debate has its arguement for both side.  Regardless, I think it’s a poor decision of the NBA to allow such a strong commercial campaign to occur throughout the playoffs.  The scandal has put the integrity of the game and officiating under such scrutiny; the league should really keep tighter control over their image.

In this tough economy, cash is king.  That means morals get only a secondary consideration.  I will admit that the finals so far have been close, but in all honesty, that makes it easier for officials to control destiny.

Hey…if the economy continues to decline, maybe next year we’ll see Sprint launch a “Text the Champs” campaign where users can text in who they want to see in the Finals.  There’s definitely some money in that!

Here’s the commercial for all to review.