2011 NBA Free Agents: Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul Take LeBron James' Cue

Accounts of Carmelo Anthony's Manhattan wedding to La La Vasquez last month read eerily like a scene out of The Godfather.

Allegedly, fellow superstar malcontent Chris Paul stood up at Melo's wedding reception and initiated a playful toast to teaming up with Anthony in New York.

Soon after, Amar'e Stoudemire took his turn playing Don Corleone. With more serious intent, the Knicks' newest No. 1 saluted Carmelo and his future in blue and orange.

Following a slew of other guests hopping on the Big Apple bandwagon (including Melo's brother), Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke stood up to give his own congratulations to the newlyweds. Like the next guy up to get "whacked," Kroenke did his best to make light of what was reportedly an awkward moment, jokingly encouraging CP3 to join the Nuggets.

Sources indicate no one was amused.

A Stern Reality

It would seem as though the "families" of the NBA held more than one summit in the early days of summer, once again taking over the basketball world like Italian mafioso at Leonard's of Great Neck.

Some pundits have referred to these incidents of so-called "player collusion" as examples of "inmates running the asylum."

Such implies that players like Carmelo, Amar'e, and Chris Paul are degrading the game of basketball by turning the NBA into the athletic equivalent of Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables, wherein superstars need only team up with each other for maximum box-office success.

While this may be true, at least in the sense that the creation of "superteams" leaves most franchises in the dark and the league hurting (for cash), such a characterization neglects the true source of the problem.

The man whose efforts over the years have transformed the NBA into a league buoyed by egotistical superstars rather than historic franchises.

Commissioner David Stern.

His vision (along with Michael Jordan's sheer dominance) undoubtedly rescued the NBA from the chasm of irrelevance and resuscitated the sport of basketball in America.  However, in recent years, Stern has seen his campaign to promote his league by way of its biggest names take a turn for the worst.

A Frankensteinian Generation?

After overseeing the NBA's resurgence, thanks largely to the brilliance of legends like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and MJ, one can hardly blame The Commish for pushing the NBA as a league of stars long after those three had all retired. 

It has served him and the league so well.

Under Stern's regime, the NBA has, among numerous other notable accomplishments, expanded from 23 to 30 teams and has extended its broadcast reach to 215 countries around the world.

Credit is due, in large part, to the contributions of the aforementioned "Big Three." Additionally, the subsequent generation of superstars (i.e. Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan) has furthered the NBA's quest for global sporting ubiquity.

Out of this Sternian star-power culture has emerged the newest crop of crusaders—LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, CP3, Anthony, and Stoudemire among them—that has learned to use its power as the collective face of the NBA to re-shape the league that made it prominent.

A screenplay coming to a television set near you, with Stern playing the role of Dr. Frankenstein and LeBron plus pals playing the monster.

Where once the game's stalwarts sought to compete against each other for sovereignty, now the centerpieces of basketball's future have found a way to circumvent the league's salary cap and join forces to monopolize the NBA's ring business, as any self-respecting mafia would.

The credit (or blame) for this shift in superstar attitude begins and ends with Stern. 

For more than a quarter century, Stern has ruled over the NBA with an iron fist while using the players, under the auspices of Billy Hunter and the National Basketball Players Association, to sell the league.

It was only a matter of time before the players began using the league to further their own "brands."

Their names and faces synonymous with the NBA, this summer's basketball news-makers have, to great effect, taken the power that Stern has granted them for so long and run with it...

To Miami and New York, among other cities.

Money Talks

Not to say that Stern and the NBA aren't still reaping rewards from the chaos of the last couple months.

With all the buzz about the new-look Heat and superstar discontent, coming off the highest-rated Finals series in more than a decade, the NBA is arguably more popular now than it has ever been.

While the short-term benefits have been tremendous, the long-term effects can hardly be predicted with any accuracy. One can only speculate about the effects of superstar consolidation on the league's popularity and (most importantly) profitability over the next five to 10 years.

Or, in the much shorter term, what effect these episodes of "player collusion" will have on the negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement that will take place between the NBA's owners and players over the next year or so—perhaps well into the 2011-2012 season.

What on the surface looks like players setting aside their egos to chase championships is, like anything else in business, ultimately a matter of money.

Owners like rings, but they like money even more.

Players like money too, but they cherish rings—for their symbolism of basketball immortality as much as for the boost they provide to a player's global "brand" (read: more money).

Speaking of rings, as with any mob-like business, basketball doesn't limit discussion of dollars and cents to formal meetings.

Look no further than Carmelo's wedding, where guests reportedly talked more about the jewelry Anthony might win in New York after leaving Denver (and a $65 million extension on the table) than the jewelry he and his new wife had just traded at the altar.

Because, in the end, the NBA, like any other professional sports league, is a business.

Which is why no one should pity Stan Kroenke too much.

Chances are, he'll sleep just fine at night even as the Carmelo saga drags on until its inevitable conclusion. Kroenke has the rest of his sports empire to look after, including the NHL's Avalanche, the MLS' Rapids, the NFL's Rams, and the English Premier League's Arsenal.

Meanwhile, Melo's career in Denver will soon be "sleeping with the fishes." And Kroenke will have Stern to thank for the offer that Anthony, in fact, could (likely will) refuse.