The National Basketball Association (NBA) led by commissioner David Stern, Esq. has been a spectacular financial success over the past two decades. Even after Michael Jordan hung up his jersey and people wondered aloud how he could be replaced, the league hardly missed a beat.

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Steve Nash, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Garnet, Amare Stoudamire, and this year Chris Paul and Dwight Howard have entered the pantheon of NBA superstars adding plenty of excitement. By the time Jordan retired it was over due.

While the NBA has been making money it has been losing its luster in other regards. The brawls, bad calls, and official Donaghy's integrity fall have only served to force Stern to earn his pay working over time to repair the damage.

The current uproar about the officiating is not the result of criminal activity, or lack of effort or skill, or poor eye sight, or planned manipulation. What it is about is a lack of clarity and consistency in the game. No other legitimate professional sport ignores its own rules as blatantly as the NBA.

The most serious are the definitions of traveling or carrying. The words in the book have not changed they are just ignored. I watched Tim Duncan walk from the top of the key taking three long and obvious strides to the hoop and dunk it without a call. Guys spin to the hoop changing their pivot foot all the time. Sure it makes the play fun but it makes the game a sham at times also. It also feeds the misrepresentation of the players as "unruly".

Players push the limits, the officials draw them back by the calls at times, and the players push the limits again as they try to maneuver for advantage in between the officials notion of controlling the game. Inevitably they have a look of shock when they are called for traveling.

There used to be clear lines when dribbling the ball. If your hand was under the ball at any time it was carrying. That rule is almost 100% ignored allowing much more creative moves. The problem is that it leaves the officials so much subjectivity in calling the game that the players, the fans and the sports announcers are left bewildered half the time.

My favorite (not) is the hop step of jump step allowing a player to essentially leave his feet after dribbling the ball toward the basket, and using the allotted two steps and come back down before shooting the ball from three to five feet closer to the rim. That is clearly traveling, "ups and downs" we used to call it; and completely ignored today.

Players are also confused because it is up to the officials discretion what a foul is. It changes from game to game, and play to play. We have watched in the recent NBA Finals, Bryant, Pierce, and Garnet all get called for touch fouls and they all became wide eyed in dismay...only later to watch Paul Pierce shove Derek Fisher 15 to 20 feet right in front of the official with no whistle. Now Fisher may have reached too far or been blocking or perhaps Pierce should have been called for the forearm, but no call for a guy being thrown 20 feet. This was no flop and both Fisher and Pierce were surprised to say the least.

We have been joking in LA this week that Laker forward Radmanovic will have two fouls before the opening tip just for stepping on the court. Every observer of the sport has said the same thing, whether NBA fan or seasoned NBA veteran player -- we are begging for consistency, and that is not happening.

Happy Fathers Day!

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: Laker season ticket holder, played 40 years and coached 10 (two sons) but rarely officiate..