NBA commissioner David Stern has released a statement concerning the veto of the trade that would send New Orleans Hornets' point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three team trade with the Houston Rockets.
In an excerpt from his statement, Stern elaborated on the reasons why this trade was vetoed:
"Since the NBA purchased the New Orleans Hornets, final responsibility for significant management decisions lies with the Commissioner's Office in consultation with team chairman Jac Sperling. All decisions are made on the basis of what is in the best interests of the Hornets. In the case of the trade proposal that was made to the Hornets for Chris Paul, we decided, free from the influence of other NBA owners, that the team was better served with Chris in a Hornets uniform than by the outcome of the terms of that trade."
That might be all true Mr. Stern, but to say that the other owners had no influence certainly doesn't seem like he's giving out the full story.
There have been reports that some owners have attempted to sway Stern to block the proposed trade trade. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made it perfectly clear he was opposed to the deal on Friday, while Yahoo! Sports got hold of an e-mail from Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert asking Stern to put it to a vote amongst the 29 owners of the Hornets, claiming it was an unfair deal to the rest of the league.