Chris Paul Rumors: David Stern Must Step Down After Latest Failed Trade

Never before has it been clearer that NBA commissioner David Stern has overstayed his welcome and must leave his post for the well-being of his sport.

Not to mention Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets.

The lengthy lockout, spurred on by the greed of stingy, small-market owners and the misguided negotiating tactics of the players and their representatives, left a rather sizable welt on the otherwise sterling resume that Stern had compiled during his near-28-year reign atop the basketball world.

His latest forays into managerial malfeasance—nixing CP3's move to the Lakers at Dan Gilbert's behest and pushing Hornets GM Dell Demps to overreach in his dealings with the Clippers—have left his other eye black, blue and bruised.

Both wounds, by the way, were more-or-less self-inflicted. Stern had spent more than four months (and two years before the old collective bargaining agreement officially expired) cutting off the NBA's proverbial nose to spite its face (i.e. its star players). He used the same bully tactics to push around Billy Hunter, Derek Fisher and their constituents, looking to squeeze them for every last bit of control over their own fate as professionals while his own constituent owners bickered amongst themselves.

He took billions of dollars in revenue from the players and then he demanded more, leaving the players with little choice but to refuse—not unlike his dealings with the Clippers.

On Sunday night, CP3 seemed destined for LA, with Chris Kaman, Eric Bledsoe, Al-Farouq Aminu and Minnesota's first-rounder in 2012 headed back to New Orleans.

Then came the insistence that Eric Gordon—the Clips' up-and-coming shooting guard—be thrown in as well. Not surprisingly, Clippers GM Neil Olshey balked at the demand, finding the price far too steep to pay for a player, albeit a superstar, only guaranteed to stay for two seasons.

And so, the NBA returns to its newfound status quo of insanity, a veritable circus with Stern as the squat, Penguin-like ringleader. He's left Demps and Hornets to navigate through the coming months on a tightrope with no net, no hope of finding a team willing to deal for Chris Paul as a rental or of re-signing him when he opts for free agency in the summer.

Clearly, though, Stern isn't trying to sabotage his own sport. He's spent nearly three decades fostering the growth of the NBA across the country and around the world, guiding the game of basketball to the pinnacle of its popularity.

But, as author Richard Bach once wrote, "If you love someone, set them free."

Words to live by, King David.

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