NBA Trade Rumors: Should David Stern Be Fired for the Chris Paul Fiasco?
You know that overbearing parent who wants his kid to win at every cost? The one who annoyingly coaches from the sidelines and thinks he knows everything and that his son is the best player on the court even though he really isn’t?
You wouldn’t want him actually coaching your son’s team, right? Of course not, because you know he is delusional and won't objectively do what's best for the team as a whole. Even though he would have the responsibility to look after all the kids, you know he's just going to focus on his own.
But, then you hear the kid is recovering from a horrible accident and that the dad is a respected (actually, more feared) member of the community.
So, you feel bad, think about it a bit more and eventually relent. What’s the worst that could happen? The guy is successful and smart and after what the kid’s been through, he needs a bit of support and attention.
Oops…
Fast-forward 12 months. Your kid isn’t playing, his kid is struggling under his vice-like grip and and other upset parents are pulling their sons from the team.
Welcome to the NBA.
When the news first broke that David Stern had vetoed the three-team trade involving Chris Paul going to the Lakers, my first thoughts were what's his end game?
If you lead with that question, Stern's decision to intervene in the Hornets affairs on behalf of the owners is indefensible.The problem, though, goes back to when the NBA stepped in and bought the team.
The whole idea that the league could buy the franchise and still remain apathetic was ludicrous and hypocritical from the very beginning. If the NBA was so passionate about keeping the Hornets in New Orleans, then obviously it wants the team to succeed at all costs. It's not just for the image of the league, it's about finances now too. If the NBA wasn't 120 invested, we'd be talking about the San Jose Hornets.
That the league entrusted the Hornets to David Stern, a guy known for bullying and steamrolling everybody who stands in his way until they capitulate, was even a worse idea. Any freshman business student could tell you that the recipe was a disastrous model that would eventually blow up in everybody's face.
David Stern is that overbearing parent.
Did we really think the big tyrannical bully would let his adored franchise flounder now that he was in control? It's nice that he cares so much and wants to help the city, but he's in way too deep to be partial.
Should we have seen this from a mile away? Absolutely! Did we? Obviously not!We too wanted New Orleans to have a basketball team after all it had been through post-Katrina. We saw it as a nice gesture and accepted that the NBA wouldn't intervene.
But frankly, if the city couldn't find a buyer to keep them, the Hornets should have been allowed to leave because, deep down, we knew that David Stern wouldn't be able to resist making his mark and when he did, we knew he would eventually screw everything up.
That he has created the mess we are in, is a fireable offense...but I'll get to that.
The driving motive for why Stern intervened in the original Hornets-Lakers trade is a bit unclear, but the proposed trade involving Chris Paul was primarily vetoed for a combination of two reasons.
The first being that Stern was delusional. Like the crazy parent who is adamant that his son (in this case, Chris Paul, not the team) is far more valuable than he is (which is not to say Paul isn't a star, but that every player has a price), David Stern believed he could get more in return for his beloved point guard.
The fact that we are saying ‘his beloved point guard’—which, because the NBA owns the team and thus David Stern is their de facto owner, is now true—should be enough of a cause to fire Stern.The second reason is that the owners pushed David Stern to block the trade in their own self-interest.
The commissioner of the NBA—of any league for that matter—is supposed to protect his teams and deal with each and every team with the same fairness. The fact that he is taking sides and caving to pressure from owners who are worried that the Lakers might suddenly be better than their own teams violates his responsibilities as an owner.
Feeling the intense media scrutiny, David Stern allowed Chris Paul trade talks to be reopened this time between the Hornets and the Clippers. Only now, desperate to save face, Stern tried to bully the Clippers into trading everything but the kitchen sink. Maybe including it.
According to reports, David Stern was asking for four of the Clippers' potential starters and a first-round pick in return for Chris Paul. Naturally, L.A. light backed off.
It’s pretty hard to see the league getting a better deal for Paul than either of the first two trades.
So now the league and the Hornets are left with three possibilities:
1. Chris Paul is going to stay in New Orleans for the year before bolting next summer, leaving New Orleans with nothing in return.2. With no bargaining power, the Hornets are going to get less in return should they still manage to trade him later.
3. The league is going to bully and intimidate a team into way overpaying (Donald Stern's Clippers) and gut a bigger market team of its entire roster leaving, that team severely weakened.
As an objective fan, wouldn't you want to see a Clippers team that not only had Blake and Chris Paul, but could actually compete? Wouldn't it be a waste of both their talents if it were them and a bunch of D-leaguers? Conversely, will you be any more compelled to watch the Hornets if they got Eric Bledsoe...even Eric Gordon?
So either the Hornets come away with less or the league ravages another team to make them a mediocre team. In the process, the NBA has created a PR nightmare that has seriously damaged the credibility of the league.
If the Hornets are worse off next year and suffer through several years of futility, the crazy parent, David Stern, will be to blame.
Throw in the fact that a whole article can be written regarding whether or not the commissioner should be fired without mentioning how he was one of the primary actors who irresponsibly drove the league to the abyss and almost lost the season, is further justification that it is time for David Stern to go.
Especially when you consider half the point of the lockout was to keep the very scenario of star players from bolting to bigger markets from happening.
The Hornets, Lakers, Rockets, Clippers and perhaps the entire NBA, would be better served without him.
