The Day the NBA Lost Its Way

[jonathanlambert33]

I hope Chris Paul sues. I hope the Rockets sue. I hope the Lakers sue. I hope Dell Demps resigns and makes a sex tape with a stripper wearing a David Stern Halloween mask. Whatever happens, the season has been irrevocably tainted — we just watched FIVE teams have their seasons screwed up by this debacle. Houston's three-year plan just went up in smoke; now the Rockets have to make up with their two best players. (Good luck with that.) The Lakers need to determine if their relationship with the notoriously sensitive Gasol and the even more notoriously sensitive Odom is salvageable; and if it's not, what then? The Hornets are just plain screwed. It's a basketball catastrophe for them. As for the Celtics, Pinocchio Ainge's ill-fated pursuit of Paul ruined the team's relationship with Rajon Rondo, only its best young player. Even the Knicks got screwed — supposedly they closed the deal with Tyson Chandler yesterday, never expecting Paul to become available this summer (and now they can't chase him).

The total tally: Five teams were screwed by one cowardly decision.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7334835/the-sixth-day-nba-christmas

Just a small part of the article, it's rather long but an EXCELLENT read. Bill Simmons hit the nail on the head in every last point he made. Everyone needs to read this. Like I said yesterday, Stern should step down immediately.

 

[DJT]

The actual day the NBA lost its way was when LeBron and Bosh teamed up with Wade down in Miami IMO.

Making other teams do the same thing (or try to do the same thing): Knicks, Lakers, Nets (kinda)

But yeah, lots of teams are in bad spots.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I actually agree with you DJT. Stern has lost his way, I agree 100% with the article. The guy isn't fit to run a professional league, and it's been that way for a while now. This part of the article caught my attention:

Fast-forward to Thursday night: Those first few minutes after word spread (not only that the trade was canceled, but that Paul would probably remain in New Orleans for the entire season), as everyone came to the same sobering conclusion. The old man finally lost his mind. Sure, he was pushed there by a cluster of bitter owners, but the old Stern never would have rolled over like that. Twenty years ago, 10 years ago, maybe even five years ago, Stern would have brushed them off in his endearingly condescending way, quelled the fire, called in a favor or two, acted like the politician he always secretly was. Not this time. The old man doesn't have the same sway. We just witnessed it during that lockout. Few people understood how much time and effort he spent pushing his holdout owners toward that final compromise. He barely got there.

 

[DJT]

Yeah, kinda strange he didn't...I dunno I want to hear more about why it was for sure called off...i've heard stuff spit-balled around, but I want to hear what Stern and the owners say.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

These are the facts: Twelve months ago, the NBA bought the New Orleans Hornets for a little more than $300 million. Every other owner (29 in all) split the price for the franchise, the same way you'd split a meal 12 ways for your buddy's birthday or something. Stern and his cronies claimed this wouldn't be a problem, that Hornets GM Dell Demps would be able to swing moves just like any other general manager. When Mark Cuban flipped out in February after a Carl Landry/Marcus Thornton swap caused New Orleans' payroll to rise, nobody really cared. When the lockout dragged on for five months and nobody ever seriously considered contracting the Hornets — a franchise that lost money AND couldn't find an owner — nobody really cared. When the Hornets stole the spotlight after the labor agreement by immediately being involved in 50,000 different trade rumors, nobody really cared. We all assumed things were "on the level."

And why not? We had no reason to think differently … right? The league made a point of saying that Demps had been empowered to make any trade (without interference). Every team dealing with New Orleans believed that Demps was in charge — without any question — and that they weren't wasting their time spending their days batting around ideas with him. On Wednesday morning, when I was working on my column about Paul trades, I sniffed around on Stern's role in the trade talks and got the same answer from different people: It's Dell Demps' call. I ended up joking in that column that Stern might block a Clippers/Paul trade to avoid having Donald Sterling own one of the league's signature franchises. Everyone read that and got the joke.

 

[DJT]

The Hornets really need to have someone buy them...thats what I'm getting from all this.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

The Hornets really need to have someone buy them...thats what I'm getting from all this.

That's the funny thing, that's really really close. A new lease keeping the Hornets in NOLA should be announced next month and everything says that the owner will follow that. Some believe a owner is already lined up.

The funny thing is, if it wasn't for the BP Oil Spill Gary Chouest would have bought the Hornets already.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Bill Simmons:
Crazy AM. Havent talked to anyone yet who isn't stupefied by Stern's veto. Can't remember any other sport spinning into chaos this abruptly.

Bill Simmons:
Also can't remember a single sports decision that caused multiple front office execs to seriously consider quitting their jobs. Amazing.

 

[DJT]

I'd honestly be surprised if this trade didn't go through by Monday.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I think you'll see the Lakers throw in a few first rounders or something like that. Maybe a fourth team that trades a first or two for Odom.

 

[DJT]

I think the Lakers adding a pick or 2 would be the most likely.

But I really wanna see if Boston or LAC or GSW can up their offers.