Lakers Rumors: Lakers and Clippers Battling David Stern for Chris Paul

Gone are the days of NBA teams simply battling each other for a superstar on the market.

Now, teams must battle commissioner David Stern for a superstar's rights.

Stern has made it abundantly clear in the last few weeks that it will take basically an entire roster for a team to land superstars Chris Paul and Dwight Howard.

It's evident by now that he's looking out for the NBA's best interests and that is why it's been so hard for teams to pry players like Paul away from small-market teams. A big holdup in the NBA labor talks was the concern regarding how small-market teams could remain viable.

Paul actually may file a lawsuit against the NBA after two potential mega-deals fell through. He's been ever so close to landing on the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, but there's always been something Stern didn't like.

In the latest impasse on Monday, the Clippers eventually gave up after the Hornets, at the NBA's insistence, reportedly asked for Clippers shooting guard Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Bledsoe, former All-Star center Chris Kaman and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round draft pick.

This is uncharted territory for superstars. While they are still technically allowed to demand a trade to a particular team before they hit free agency, Stern is doing everything in his power to keep that from happening.

It's an ugly affair after an ugly lockout, and if anything it tells us that nothing was completely settled in the new collective bargaining agreement. There is still plenty of contention, on both sides.

So here we are, 11 days from the start of the season and the back-and-forth is threatening to continue while players are taking the floor.

It marks a chasm and, more importantly, a distraction for both sides while the NBA tries to make the best of a scheduled 66-game season.

Can't we all just get along?

Fans, and the players, have a right to be fed up at this point.