NBA Owners Rightfully Object to Lakers Trading for Chris Paul

For the record I want the Lakers to get Chris Paul into a purple and gold uniform. I’m not happy about having to thin out the frontline in order to do so. But, hey, if you want to stop getting burned by J.J. Barea then you’ve got to trade a few big men…I guess.

All that being said, unless the Lakers can workout a deal agreed to by a collective of NBA owners then it doesn’t make much sense to approve a trade involving a league owned team. That might sound unusual coming from a Laker fan such as myself but it is what is right given the precarious position the New Orleans Hornets franchise is in.

Blame the NBA. Blame David Stern. Just don’t blame the owners who are objecting to the blockbuster deal that would have gift wrapped CP3 while putting coal in the stockings of Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.

After all, all of those objecting owners have a piece of the Hornets in some way. So it is only right that they have the ability to put their foot down. If it were the Boston Celtics making a big move and Mitch Kupchack had a chance to block the deal, I’d expect him to do the same.

Is it a hater move? Yes, on some levels. The real issue is the nature in which the NBA has gone about taking over a failing franchise named the Hornets.

It was David Stern who so insisted on having hoops in the Big Easy that he allowed the league to takeover ownership of the struggling franchise. It was Stern who allowed that same franchise to tease the good folks in Oklahoma City with NBA hoops in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It was also Stern who insisted that franchise return to New Orleans while allowing a great hoops town like Seattle to lose their team to the great fans in Oklahoma City.

So go ahead. Label me a Laker hater. I’m all for the Lakers getting an upgrade at the point guard position. However I’m against Commissioner Stern continuing to manipulate the best basketball league in the world.