Stern on scrapped 2011 Paul trade: 'There was nothing to void'
Former NBA commissioner David Stern took issue Tuesday with the longtime characterization of his actions in cancelling a 2011 trade that would have sent Chris Paul from the New Orleans Hornets to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Thursday marks the fifth anniversary of the would-be deal.
"I'm going to correct your language," Stern told a group at the Sports Business Radio Road Show, as transcribed by SI's Ben Golliver. "What 'cancellation'? The (Hornets) GM was not authorized to make that trade. And acting on behalf of our owners, we decided not to make it. I was an owner rep. There was nothing to void."
Related: 5 years later, the Chris Paul blockbuster trade that wasn't
The issue was complicated by the fact the NBA owned the financially troubled Hornets franchise at that time. Beyond the response to the trade from other owners that he'd receive as league commissioner, Stern also had to make a decision as an owner of the team.
"When you're the commissioner and you have two teams that are ticked off at you, as in the Lakers and Houston, the GMs without wanting to be attributed, spend their time trashing you, the wrong impression can be granted," Stern said. "It was one of the few times I decided to just go radio silent and let it play out, and I got killed."
The Paul episode - alongside his handling of the Seattle SuperSonics' move to become the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008 - are two black marks on Stern's record late in his career.
His statement that Pelicans general manager Dell Demps was not authorized to trade Paul to the Lakers also contradicts what Demps said at the time -Demps indicated he was free to trade the point guard.
"There was never a trade," Stern stressed. "It was never approved by me as the owner rep."
Much of the criticism stemmed from the fact the league had put itself into such a position with the New Orleans franchise, although it was also known that several owners didn't want the Lakers stacked with a talent like Paul. Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert - who had been jilted by LeBron James' departure the previous year - sent Stern an email the day of the trade urging him to veto it.