BASKETBALL REASONS !!!

It was the story that grabbed everyone’s attention, superstar point guard Chris Paul was traded to the mighty LA Lakers for star forwards Pau Gasol, Khloe Kardashian, and Lamar Odom. Within the hour the news wire was red hot with Laker title talk and even hopes of acquiring center Dwight Howard from the Magic. In addition to the Lakers and Hornets, the Houston Rockets were also in the mix and were trading several more players to acquire Pau Gasol. This was quickly developing into the biggest story of not only the new season but potentially the next several years.

The three-team trade was:
Los Angeles: Chris Paul
New Orleans: Khloe Kardashian, Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, and Goran Dragic.
Houston: Pau Gasol

Jim and I were hot on the trail of our first big post of the new season… I immediately starting working on graphics and Jim on the story:


Chris Paul is playing for the Lakers next season. Unstoppable flashbacks are hitting everyone. The Lakers franchise over the last 30 years: Lakers draft Magic Johnson (winning time), Lakers sign Shaquille O'Neal and draft Kobe Bryant (winning time), the Lakers trade nobodies and prospects for Pau Gasol (winning time)... Chris Paul is the same as everyone else. He's suddenly living in one of the country's biggest hotspots. He's suddenly living in a sweet house like the one Robert Altman lived in. He's playing the role of co-superstar leader with Kobe Bryant in his mid-30s. A passing of the torch is in the works.

As I kept checking for updates, I noticed a comment somewhere that the deal wasn’t exactly done and that some important people were complaining about something. Oh well, I thought and continued working. An hour later Jim told me, “the deal is dead.” I thought he was joking, and really didn’t want to believe him. I couldn’t understand how the breaking news story was suddenly unbroken. So what happened?!

All trades must be approved by the league, and apparently NBA commissioner David Stern did not approve the deal. I was further reminded that last year the NBA purchased the New Orleans Hornets because of problems with the ownership. As a result, NBA commissioner David Stern was also the acting president of the Hornets and Chris Paul's future.

Further stories surfaced that in the final meetings to approve the new NBA labor deal, many league owners were furious over the Lakers acquiring Chris Paul and potentially landing Dwight Howard. Michael Jordan and Mark Cuban were names mentioned, but then Dan Gilbert the “Lebron's Spurned Lover (owner)" of the Cleveland Cavaliers show the show by leaking his thoughts to the press:

Commissioner,

It would be a travesty to allow the Lakers to acquire Chris Paul in the apparent trade being discussed. This trade should go to a vote of the 29 owners of the Hornets.

… I just don't see how we can allow this trade to happen. I know the vast majority of owners feel the same way that I do. When will we just change the name of 25 of the 30 teams to the Washington Generals?

Please advise...
Dan G.

The next day an NBA league official gave a statement that changed it all:

“Not true that owners killed the (3-team) deal. It wasn’t even discussed at the Board meeting… League office declined to make the trade for BASKETBALL REASONS.”
-Tim Frank

Nobody knew what the hell Basketball Reasons were then, and I only have bizarre theories on what they are now. BASKETBALL REASONS!


The next BASKETBALL REASONS we knew Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom were traded to the Dallas Mavericks for a single draft pick. As a Dallas Mavericks homer, I NOW LOVED BASKETBALL REASONS! The NBA Champion Mavericks had committed to a semi rebuilding project that involved not resigning several key players from their roster. But in one felled swooped, they snatched a gem… all due to BASKETBALL REASONS!

It was sealed, Chris Paul was not going to be an LA Laker and attention was now turned towards a trade for Dwight Howard. Players like Nene Hilario, David West, and other dynamic free agents were still on the market too. Everyone was waiting for the rest of the dominoes to fall…


And just like that, Chris Paul was heading back to LA, but this time it was a trade to the cross gym rivals, the LA Clippers! CP3 was now paired with dunk champion Blake Griffin and company. I bet Blake Griffin loves BASKETBALL REASONS too. Along the way, the Clippers also landed veteran guard Chauncey Billups, forward Caron Butler, and resigned their young dunking center DeAndre Jordan.

Interestingly enough, after all the hurt feelings… the Clippers and Lakers played all their starters in the first preseason game and put on a show. It was simply awesome.

NOW WE ALL HAVE "BASKETBALL REASONS" TO BE EXCITED!

The NBA is back on Christmas day featuring:

BOSTON CELTICS at NEW YORK KNICKS – 12:00 PM

MIAMI HEAT at DALLAS MAVERICKS – 2:30 PM

CHICAGO BULLS at LA LAKERS – 5:00 PM

ORLANDO MAGIC at OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER – 8:00 PM

LA CLIPPERS at GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS – 10:30 PM