NBA Trade Rumors: Failed Chris Paul Deal Proves It's Lakers vs. NBA World

When you can’t beat ‘em, cheat ‘em.

Despite the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers were swept in the playoffs last season, the rest of the NBA is still terrified of them.  LA GM Mitch Kupchak orchestrated a three-way trade beneficial for all sides with the New Orleans Hornets and Houston Rockets for Chris Paul on Thursday, but opposing owners turned to their corrupt leader David Stern in tears, got on their knees and pleaded for a veto.  Stern gave in to the pitiful owners not once, though, but twice this past week, proving this season will be a Lakers-vs-the-NBA-World war.

Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Los Angeles put together another deal for Paul on Saturday and yet again, Stern shook his mammoth-sized head back and forth.  Seriously?  Because the Hornets are technically shared by the 29 NBA owners they have the right to negate it?

Bull.

Fun fact: New Orleans has a General Manager, his name is Dell Demps.  Demps’ only desire, as his job-title would suggest, is to turn the Hornets into a winning ball-club.  In trading away Paul, that’s exactly what Demps would be achieving.

Those 29 owners, they couldn’t possibly care any less about the Hornets’ record.  They have other priorities: their own franchises.  The pathetic, gutless owners against a CP3-to-LA trade aren’t bawling their eyes out because the Hornets are getting ripped off, but because they're shaking uncontrollably with the fear that the Lakers could potentially trade for Paul and Dwight Howard.

Mark Cuban, the very owner whose team brought out the broom against Los Angeles this past postseason, led the charge.  Dan Gilbert wrote a whiny e-mail to Stern calling the transaction a travesty…he wrote an e-mail...too choked up to call?

The Lakers didn’t deal a cancerous Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks to simply get him off their hands, they dealt him after the NBA forced LA to change their plans of adding Paul.  And as Kobe told the LA Times, “I don't think Mark Cuban's protesting this trade.”  Good call.

Would there have been any fuss over a CP3-to-Clippers trade or even Paul to the Celtics?  No way, not a whimper.  To a team in the Lakers that's won two out of the last three NBA titles and appeared in three of the last four: opposing owners get chills.

Lakers’ fans have plenty of reasons to be furious after the nightmare that’s been their last few days.  What they should be confident in, though, is the fact that their so-called aging squad is still dangerous.  The other 28 owners put on their puppy-dog eyes for Stern this weekend for a reason: they’re still scared of the Black Mamba and company.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer. Follow him on Twitter.