Chris Paul to Lakers: Laurinaitis Tweet Shows How Far David Stern Has Fallen
When NBA commissioner David Stern made the decision to veto a trade that would have sent New Orleans Hornets All-Star point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, it was a very curious one. Some might say it was reminiscent of a certain WWE personality, in fact.
WWE vice president of talent relations and interim RAW general manager John Laurinaitis jokingly posted a tweet suggesting that the NBA commissioner had confided in him. While it was clearly meant in jest, Stern's mind-boggling decision did seem like something that might be done on WWE programming.
The three-way trade would have sent Paul to Los Angeles, Lakers center Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets and Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and a first-round pick to the Hornets.
Due to complaints from small-market teams, particularly Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert—who sent an email to the commissioner—Stern made the decision to disallow the deal. Gilbert argued that the trade was unfair since the Lakers were receiving the best player in the deal and would save millions of dollars in luxury taxes as well.
This is despite the fact that Hornets general manager Dell Demps got the best possible package he could for a player who wasn't going to re-sign. Presumably too afraid to stand up to Gilbert and others, however, Stern squashed what was a very fair trade.
This type of tyrannical behavior and questionable decision making is exactly the type of thing that Laurinaitis displays on a weekly basis. Laurinaitis has made a number of strange choices, including rehiring The Miz and R-Truth after they assaulted a number of wrestlers, refusing time and time again to give Zack Ryder a United States Championship shot and initially refusing CM Punk a WWE Championship match.
In other words, Laurinaitis very clearly supports the heels. The NBA equivalent of a heel is Gilbert. He whined, cried and stomped his feet after LeBron James decided to sign with the Miami Heat last season, and just because he didn't get his way, he is now ruining things for others.
Gilbert's appeal to Stern was very much like one an annoying heel would make to Laurinaitis in WWE. A perfect example in the WWE is Christian, who is constantly begging and pleading for another championship match.
The difference here, however, is that not even Laurinaitis has caved into Christian's demands, so at least he has some principle. Stern, on the other hand, folded like the cheap suits he so often wears when he couldn't handle the pressure regarding the Paul trade.
It's extremely sad when an intentionally corrupt wrestling authority figure actually makes better storyline decisions than the commissioner of a respected and storied sports league. People can make fun of wrestling for being fake all they want, but nothing is more fake than the way Stern carries himself.
In wrestling, a heel receives what is called heat when he is booed by the crowd. While Laurinaitis is routinely loathed by the WWE Universe, it is nothing compared to the vicious reaction Stern gets when he steps to the podium at the NBA Draft. Even when you take wrestling into account, there may be no bigger villain in sports right now than Stern.
