At the close of shop today, it looked like Chris Paul was headed west to play for the Lakers.  Los Angeles was set to ship Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom to New Orleans for Chris Paul.

New Orleans and Houston were then going to do their own thing with a bunch of other players.

All was fine and dandy until David Stern stepped in and blocked the trade after several owners complained about a league owned team shipping a top ten player to the Lakers.  After all, the owners didn't sacrifice the last five months for the rich to get richer, did they?

The voice of the 'little guy,' Dan Gilbert, wasn't shy about offering his opinion.  Yahoo! sports was able to obtain this email the owner of the Cavaliers sent to David Stern.  Gilbert would be a great guy to have in a fantasy league because he would never allow lopsided trades.

The NBA claims the decision had nothing to do with the other owners, but I beg to differ.  The NBA thrives when the rich are richer.

This knee-jerk reaction just delays the inevitable.  Paul will eventually sign with the Lakers or another big market team, and the Hornets will have nothing to show for it.

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