About a month ago, when the owners and players of the NBA were still fighting over money, David Stern said something about a nuclear winter if a deal didn't get done soon. What did he mean? I haven't a clue. I don't thing anyone knows. After all, the man is 70 years old and he's the commissioner of the NBA, which in recent years has become less about basketball and about more money. His job has been about keeping the wolves at bay rather than doing what's best for the league. So when he preached about a nuclear winter, I'm sure it was a just desperation scare tactic. I'm sure he didn't mean that he was going to interfere with the trading of one of the league's top stars a month later, right?
Of course, if you have been following NBA news the last two weeks, then you will know exactly what I'm talking about. Yes, star point guard, Chris Paul, was finally traded a few days ago to the LA Clippers (the team I pledged my allegiance to a week earlier after they had signed Caron Butler, no big deal). But he was traded to the wrong LA team (as much as I hate to say it). There was absolutely nothing wrong with the original 3-way trade involving the Lakers, Houston Rockets, and New Orleans Hornets (aside from the Rockets getting completely screwed but everyone's just ignored that part apparently). The trade would have sent Paul to the Lakers, Pau Gasol to the Rockets, and Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic, Lamar Odom, and the Knicks #1 pick to the Hornets. (Again, what were the Rockets thinking even accepting these terms? You give up two good starters, a great bench player, and a #1 pick for Pau Gasol? Really?....Really?) The trade sent shock waves throughout the NBA. Every owner's heart sank as they thought, "Seriously? The Lakers just got their star of the future?" So logically, they protested, well a good number of them did, and the result was a nuclear explosion (pun intended). Seemingly right after the trade was announced, David Stern vetoed it. Yep, looks like even with a new agreement between the owners and players, a nuclear winter had begun.
Stern said he vetoed the trade because the Hornets could get a better deal for Paul. He felt they could get younger, more cost-friendly players, and a better pick in the draft (which was completely true by the way). So onward to the next team on Chris Paul's wishlist. The Knicks were number 1, but had nothing really to trade away, if you didn't know that nugget, and the Lakers were number 2, but were posterized (again, pun intended) by the commish. Team three for Paul was the LA Clippers; the team that just happened to be able to offer the Hornets the best deal. That deal included young star Eric Gordon, prospect Al-Farouq Aminu, veteran Chris Kaman, and the T-wolves unprotect #1 pick. The deal was eventually agreed upon by the Clippers and NBA execs negotiating on the behalf of the league-owned Hornets (even know the NBA gave Hornets front office full autonomy in trading Paul, which we're also ignoring apparently).
So the Hornets got Eric Gordon, who was on their wishlist; Paul goes to a team he wanted; and the LA Clippers get Chris Paul for (at least) 2 seasons. Everyone's happy, right? Wrong. The nixed trade left the Lakers and Rockets coping with players they thought they had traded away. Lamar Odom was so distraught that he asked the Lakers to trade him, which they promptly did. (They sent him to Dallas along with a 2nd round pick for a protected 1st round pick and a roughly a 9 million dollar trade exception.) Pau Gasol was deeply saddened. Kobe Bryant was pissed, and I mean pissed after Odom was traded. He was so mad he decided to divorce his wife! OK, fine, that was mutual. He did rip Lakers ownership and had a talk with Lakers GM, Mitch Kupchak, though. And who knows how the three Rocket players feel. (They're doing well, I think. I've heard no reports about how they feel, which leads me to think no one cares about them.) Even Deron Williams of the Nets was angry, calling Stern a "bully."
Now that the Chris Paul dust has settled, NBA fans should be happy. A team that wasn't going to be competitive gave up its star player to an up-and-coming team that will now be ultra competitive. A new LA rivalry was created. It's now Kobe and Pau vs. Paul and Blake. That might just be the best rivalry in the West now, another plus. Come to think of it, things really did work out quite nicely for the NBA. Heck, Stern vetoing that trade may have been one of the best moves he's made during his time as commissioner. (Hahahahaha..hahahaha..ah. Sorry, I just thought about how the commissioner screwing the Lakers and helping the "other team from LA," which is essentially what happened. Wow, that's good stuff.) The nuclear winter came; everyone weathered it; and the NBA came out better than it was before. Holy crap, am I actually praising Stern for interfering with the trade? You betcha I am. You didn't see that one coming, did you? Congratulations David Stern for keeping your word and bringing that nuclear winter. You know, Dwight Howard still needs to be traded. Can you give us an atomic new year next?
References
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7333285/los-angeles-lakers-deal-acquire-chris-paul-off
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7353870/los-angeles-clippers-new-orleans-hornets-agree-chris-paul-trade
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7341952/los-angeles-lakers-lamar-odom-dealt-dallas-mavericks-asking-trade
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/12/kobe-bryant-lamar-odom-trade-video_n_1143522.html
http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/7341720/new-jersey-nets-deron-williams-calls-david-stern-bully-talks-orlando-magic-dwight-howard
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