David Stern: Pelicans' Demps 'a lousy GM' who may lose Davis

Almost five years removed from his retirement as NBA commissioner, David Stern appears to have put aside some of the decorum associated with the position.

Still peppered with questions about his voiding of a 2011 trade that would have sent Chris Paul from the then-New Orleans Hornets to the Los Angeles Lakers, Stern has leveled some public criticism at New Orleans general manager Dell Demps.

On Dec. 8, 2011, Demps agreed to a three-way trade that would send Paul to the Lakers, Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets, and Goran Dragic, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Lamar Odom, and a first-round pick to New Orleans. The deal was immediately nixed by Stern, who, in addition to being league commissioner, was acting as principal owner of the then-league-owned Hornets.

"I said we can do better than that," Stern told SI's Chris Ballard.

A week later, Stern approved the trade of Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers for Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman, and a draft pick that later became Austin Rivers. While the haul in the original Lakers deal was arguably better, Stern now takes aim at Demps, still the GM in New Orleans.

"Dell Demps is a lousy general manager and none of those players are currently with the team anymore," Stern said. "And he may lose Anthony Davis."

Alongside the relocation of the Seattle Sonics to Oklahoma City, the trade fiasco is widely considered to be one of Stern's few public relations blunders during his 30-year stewardship of the NBA. Still, he's adamant he did nothing wrong and dismisses comparisons to the construction of "super teams."

"Now when DeMarcus Cousins signs with Golden State, then the great unwashed Twitter says, 'Adam Silver should be like Stern and stop him from going.' Oh, OK, guys, that's great! Right?" he said. "That's ridiculous. Step up, strap on a set. It's stupid."