NBA Loses Credibility On Chris Paul Trade
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By DERON SNYDER
The NBA’s decision to void Chris Paul’s trade to the Los Angeles Lakers is wrong on so many levels, deciding where to begin is difficult.
There’s the inherent conflict-of-interest in the league – i.e., the NBA’s other franchises – owning the New Orleans Hornets, leading the ludicrous Dan Gilbert to write that “this trade should go to a vote of the 29 owners of the Hornets.” As if they wouldn’t put their own teams’ interests ahead of the Hornets’ well-being.
There’s the undermining of Hornets’ general manager Dell Demps, who supposedly had full authority and autonomy to run the franchise as he saw fit. Working with officials from the Lakers and Houston Rockets, Demps orchestrated one of the best deals possible for an impending free agent, but the league essentially punked him in the end.
