For once, the week’s most egregious exercise of power for a petty political agenda did not occur in Washington. It was in New York, where NBA Commissioner David Stern vetoed a Hornets-Lakers-Rockets trade that would have sent Chris Paul to Los Angeles, Pau Gasol to Houston, and Lamar Odom to the Big Easy.
Stern insists that he did it because, as de facto owner of the Hornets (the league owns the team – but that’s for another rant), he decided the team was better off with Paul in the last year of his contract, rather than Odom, a couple more players, and a draft pick or two. Anyone who has followed the game thinks that’s laughable. In reality, small-minded, errrr small-market owners like Cleveland’s Dan Gilbert are whining that a star player made it to a big-city franchise. Gilbert was particularly incensed because the Lakers managed to cut payroll at the same time, meaning less luxury-tax money redistributed to him.
The mere fact that Stern thought he could get away with a ridiculous explanation like that shows how arrogant and self-absorbed he has become. He makes the European Commission look like a pillar of democracy.
I rarely, if ever, agree with Michael Wilbon (ESPN), but there’s no better takedown of this fiasco than his. In fact, the one decent thing that came out of this was this Wilbon quote:
Parity might have been a worthy goal for Pete Rozelle and the NFL, but it has never amounted to a hill of beans for the NBA. Neither has some socialist-style spreading of wealth.
If Michael Wilbon can appreciate the danger of “socialist-style spreading of wealth,” there’s hope for the country yet!
Cross-posted to Bearing Drift
