NBA Officially in a State of Chaos

For the most part, the basketball community felt a huge sigh of relief when the lockout was lifted.  But did that spell the end of the turmoil among Commissioner David Stern, the players, and the owners?  We should have known better.  We should have predicted that, after months of several heated discussions, that rifts would be permanently created and grudges would be held.  After both sides made considerable compromises to end the lockout, promises were made to both the players and owners that efforts would be made to ensure their needs would be met.  So after all this, what’s the outcome?  For one, every team transaction, from here on out, will be further scrutinized by everyone in the league.  Now, the same day the lockout ended, we’ve already seen how ugly things have become with the chaotic Chris Paul trade fiasco.  In the end, the NBA has seriously tarnished its brand, and things seem to quickly be spiraling out of control. 

Let's hope the league wises up and allows CP3 and Kobe to become teammates

The unfathomable veto of the trade that would have brought Chris Paul to the Lakers is the latest episode in what’s been a devastating blow to the NBA’s image.  Owners were furious that yet another star player would be moving to a premier franchise.  And from my understanding, it wasn’t JUST the acquiring of Chris Paul alone that prompted the owners to react; rumors swirled that the Lakers still had a chance to acquire Dwight Howard from the Magic.  While it may not have been feasible immediately after the Lakers parted with both Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom to get Paul, owners were still weary that Howard might eventually finagle his way to LA – especially if he’s not traded to another team. 

Scola (left) and Gasol (right) would provide offensive
firepower to their respective teams' front lines

What kills me is that this trade was said to be vetoed for "basketball-related" reasons.  Are you kidding me?  From a basketball perspective, it's fair to say that New Orleans may have fared the best of the three teams from doing this trade.  Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, and Emeka Okafor together would have formed a playoff team-quality front court for the Hornets.  That's before even mentioning the acquisition of Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic - who are both up-and-coming prolific scorers (if you don't know Dragic, check out this 23-point 4th quarter outburst he threw down on a very good San Antonio team in the 2010 Western Conference Semis).  From a marketing perspective, you obviously can't replace CP3 - even with these high quality players.  But it baffles me that the league doesn't realize that this is a much better option than letting Paul walk at season's end, and thereby giving New Orleans nothing in return. 

 This isn't a bad trade for the other two involved teams, either.  In the aftermath of losing Yao Ming, Houston would have landed the second-best big man in the league in Pau Gasol - and were already in the running to land Nene.  And of course, Kobe and CP3 would form the best back court in the NBA for the Lakers - albeit with a thin front line.  So how the hell is NOT doing this trade better for all three teams from a basketball perspective? 

Clearly, there are lingering issues resulting from egos of owners and players in the aftermath of the lockout.  So who's at fault for keeping this going?  

By opposing the trade of CP3 to LA, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert is
showing that he's obviously not over the loss of LeBron James

To owners, the new CBA should have further prevented teams from stacking up the league’s best players; ever since LeBron, D-Wade and Bosh joined forces in Miami last offseason, owners became determined to not allow something like that to happen again.  Thus, when the very first news they hear (on the SAME DAY the lockout ends, to boot) is the rumors of CP3 and Dwight Howard both going to the Lakers, their natural reaction is to push back.  They were promised competitive balance, and felt they were lied to.  I think all basketball minds agree that New Orleans, in the proposed trade, got a pretty damn good deal out of it.  But if we’ve learned anything this offseason, it’s that most owners don’t see things from a basketball perspective – only money. 

At the same time, you can’t blame players for wanting to play for bigger market teams.  To CP3, his desire to achieve long-term security (by signing an extension with the Lakers) has been denied.  If he blows out his knee this season, he’s screwed.  There’s no denying he has a right to be livid at the league.  Smaller market teams want more than 1% chance of landing star players to improve their venue, but other than a few exceptions – Reggie Miller with the Pacers, Tim Duncan with the Spurs, and Kevin Durant with the Thunder – star players prefer bigger markets.  That’s never going to change, and owners need to come to terms with that. 

Things will only get uglier from here on out.  We’re being told that this happened ONLY because the NBA currently owns the Hornets, causing a perfect storm for this debauchery to happen.  But hence forth, every blockbuster trade - especially between big and small-market teams – is going to be heavily scrutinized.  Even the New Jersey Nets, who are widely anticipated to be considered a bigger market when they move to Brooklyn next season, got in trouble for tampering in their ongoing attempts to trade for Dwight Howard.  Howard, who is open to the idea of playing with All-Star guard Deron Williams, now has more political obstacles to overcome.

It's not just the NBA-owned Hornets whose trade discussions are under scrutiny;
the growing chaos has hindered trade talks involving Dwight Howard (left) and Brook Lopez (right)

What a mess.

So who is to blame for the NBA’s image spiraling out of control?

The easy scapegoat, of course, is David Stern.  He’s the one who allowed the lockout get to the point where it did.  He’s the one who’s been really wishy-washy on why he vetoed the trade.  He’s the one hiding from all the heavy criticism.  But remember that ultimately, Stern answers to the owners; the only reason he’s employed is because of the owners.  He claims all of his decisions are not affiliated with any pressure he gets from owners, but IMO, that’s not plausible. 

David Stern has long ago worn out his welcome

All things considered, he really needs to retire.  He’s gotta go.  The NBA badly needs new leadership.  Regardless of whether he’s truly at fault, we know Stern’s reputation is now irreparable, and that he shouldn’t linger around any longer trying to salvage it.  Besides, he wouldn’t be the only sports figure failing to go out on a high note; just two months ago, we saw Penn State legend Joe Paterno’s last season marred by the Jerry Sandusky scandal.  But unlike Paterno, Stern’s leadership has been far from flawless up to this point.  In fact, you can question the very beginning of his reign upon the first NBA draft lottery in 1985:  many conspiracies are out there giving solid evidence that Stern “aided” the New York Knicks to win the draft lottery – and of course allowing them to land #1 pick Patrick Ewing.  Of course, the infamous Tim Donaghy scandal comes to mind as well, which put the entire integrity of the game into question.  Fair or not, Stern’s legacy will always be associated with these conspiracies. 

It's tough to imagine either Greg Oden or Brandon Roy
ever setting foot on an NBA court again

The growing rift between the owners and players is not the only sad story to surface before this already-shortened season even started.  Portland Trailblazers star Brandon Roy, who could no longer avoid the inevitable, called it quits on account of his gimpy knees.  We saw flashes of the great player he could have been in Game 4 of last year’s First Round matchup vs. the eventual NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks, and it appears that's the last of him.  Things are also looking pretty glum for his teammate Greg Oden, who is continuing to struggle making his way back on the court after a heavily injury-ridden start to his career.  So on the Blazers front, the already-sad story is only getting sadder. 

Somehow, even after the labor situation resolved itself, the NBA is looking worse and worse.  All we can hope for now is for the chaos to subside, and that things start looking up once the actual basketball gets underway.  Until then, the bleeding won’t stop and the growing divide between players, owners, and the commissioner will not be set aside.