Nearly without exception, every time I've been to an NBA game, someone sitting near me who's been drinking beer remarks a little too loudly to his friend that of course the Lakers or the Celtics or the Heat were winning, because that's what makes the league money, because that's how David Stern wanted it. I've always considered these guys to be of the same type (though far more harmless) as those who claim that 9/11 was a conspiracy hatched by the CIA and the Mossad. Well, I no longer have that luxury. Like it or not, we're now living with a league that is no longer governed by teams, players, and coaches acting autonomously, where everyone was allowed to do what they thought would advance their careers, and everyone could pursue winning as best they knew how. By nixing the Chris Paul to the Lakers trade, the NBA has signaled strongly that basketball decisions are not up to a single team. As commissioner of the NBA, David Stern is responsible for that horrendous decision. He should resign.
Not to get too Ayn Randian about it, but if teams aren't allowed to do what they think is best for them, to make the decisions they think necessary to succeed, then what's the point in letting them compete at all? If it isn't going to be legitimate competition and just competition up to a point, what is the point of any of it? Why not just give every team a trophy and be done with it? I think that this decision has done irrevocable harm to the NBA. Far more than LeBron's ridiculous decision ever did. I hope that the NBA hears the outrage and overturns a fatally stupid mistake. Damage will be done, the league will be weakened, but not as badly as it is right now. It is far better to have indecisive fools at the top than fools at the top who insist on terrible decisions.
Don't get me wrong, I was not a huge fan of this trade. I thought that by snagging Scola, Lamar Odom, Kevin Martin, and the loose change that was Dragic and a draft pick, the Hornets did better than one could have possibly expected. That's at least two all star caliber players, scoring, rebounding, defense, and the chance to rebuild. The Rockets gave up a lot of the pieces they have been hoping to mesh around a hall of fame figure for a hall of fame figure in Gasol. And the Lakers made a gutsy and probably stupid move in putting two guys who are amazing, amazing basketball players who both need the ball, who injury might soon claim, and who would be playing under the strictest of scrutinies, on the same team. This would have likely blown up. It certainly would have blown up the Jackson system and everything that dude built. Since I hate the Lakers and like Chris Paul, I would not have liked this. I would start by defending him, find that he was taking to LA well, and quickly begin to hate him. Nonetheless, disappointed as I was at that prospect, I could hardly wait for basketball to start. It would have been amazing to see. Kobe could again be averaging 30 points a game. And Chris Paul, a master at collapsing defenses could, while feeding one of the best shooters in the game, have frequently racked up 20 assists.
Besides hurting the egos of Odom and Gasol and probably Scola and Martin (but who cares about the egos of those guys? They don't play in LA, am I right, sports world?) and making it very difficult for them to go back to their teams and give them their all, this arrangement irrevocably damaged New Orleans. Chris Paul is leaving. Under this trade his team got some value for him. Now that's gone. They'll have to play a season out while he eyes the exits and watch him go at the end for nothing. The NBA also killed this team's ability to operate autonomously. They totally undermined the idea of having this team at all. It's a huge shame that New Orleans has suffered the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, that an economy that could have supported an NBA team is really unable to after the storm, and that the league has to subsidize the team to keep it viable. The people of New Orleans deserve a lot of things, and an NBA team, while almost ridiculous next to other things that are needed, is certainly on that list. But for all the hardships that have befallen the city's basketball squad (including Chris Paul's knee problems) David Stern is the man who has given the Hornets its hardest blow. Subsidizing was meant to be a way to keep the team afloat, but if subsidizing means that the Hornets won't be allowed to be run like a team, then they might as well not exist at all. Why let the team dwindle away its resources until it has nothing left? Who the fuck wants to play for a team that's run this way? Who wants to root for a team like this -- a team that isn't run to win championships, but for the enjoyment and utility of the other owners throughout the league? All of those owners should be ashamed of themselves. They should think carefully how they would react if the league blocked a deal they made or invalidated a contract they offered (some of them might take a little hard to the comic sans). If the Hornets aren't going to be treated like a team, they should be disbanded. And if that's unappealing, then they should be left to their own devices.
This all came, pathetically, mere days after it was publically announced that Dell Demps could run the team however he wanted. It was like Brezhnev assuring the other communist states that they were autonomous countries, free to govern themselves how they saw fit within their own borders, and then turning around and invading Czechoslovakia. Stern has brought dishonor on the whole league. By ensuring New Orleans will get nothing for Paul, he has validated everyone who says that only a few teams matter. He has also invalidated the worth of all the other players in this trade, by acting as if it was too unbalanced to go down. Worst of all, he has remade the NBA in the image of the WWE. A fake show where athletes do not really compete and being champion is as useless as being the ref, where all that matters is the drama. David Stern has shit the bed. He has covered all the rest of us in his excrement and dealt a bad blow to the league and those who love it. Today should be his last day at the league's helm, because he can no longer steer the ship. He no longer seems capable of knowing where he's taking the league or what he's doing. And as he dicks around, professional basketball is changing for the worse. David Stern has been a blessing for basketball. He has truly built something huge and beautiful, an institution that rose from humble beginnings to attract a world following. But he has stayed on too long. And now, instead of adding to his creation, he is, one plank at a time, helping dismantle it.
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