Ken Berger of CBS Sports tweeted out this nugget late Thursday night:
Oh jeez.
Thursday will go down as one of the craziest days in NBA history…and nothing even happened!
A trade was all but official that would have sent Paul to the LA Lakers, Lamar Odom to the New Orleans Hornets, Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets, among a bevy of other players involved in the trade. The potential deal lasted for about two hours before the league (David Stern) decided to nix the deal.
Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported the deal was killed because it seemed as if the Hornets (who are currently owned by the league) were trying to help out one of the glamour teams in the league and that it would completely throw off the competitive balance of the league.
Check out what an executive who had periodic talks with New Orleans had to say about Stern’s decision:
"To me, this makes the league feel like it’s rigged, that Stern just does whatever Stern wants to do. He’s messed up the competitive balance of this league a lot worse by killing the deal, because you’ve completely destroyed the planning that New Orleans, Houston did and left them in shambles over this. I’ve never been so discouraged about this league, never so down.
I mean, come on: Chris Paul is leaving New Orleans in 66 games. He’s gone. And what’s Dell Demps, and that franchise, going to have to show for it?
"
This situation is ugly.
Its clear CP3 is leaving and may be forced to play in front of a home crowd that will feel like an angry girlfriend that knows there is an expiration date on their relationship. Paul is placed in the incredibly difficult situation of trying to stand up to Stern without completely screwing over the only franchise he’s ever known.
This is an unprecedented state of affairs in any professional sports league and the way CP3 handles the next couple of days may determine the next decade of his life.
No pressure, buddy.
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