David Stern is back in the news because he decided to spend a day with Sports Illustrated’s Chris Ballard, one of our best longform basketball writers. While reticent to do big profiles these days, Stern is still as opinionated as ever. The opinion expressed in Ballard’s piece getting the most run (for obvious reasons) is Stern’s quote about Pelicans GM Dell Demps while rehashing the Chris Paul trade veto once again.
David Stern emerges ... to trash the Pelicans?
We have that and more in Thursday’s NBA newsletter.
Here’s Stern:
”[Demps] had agreed to [trade Paul to the Lakers for] Kevin Martin and Luis Scola or something, and I said we can do better than that ... And the next trade was [to the Clippers for] Eric Gordon and Al-Farouq Aminu and what we thought was a really great draft pick, the 10th pick, which turned out to be Austin Rivers. At least those three and someone else [center Chris Kaman]. But Dell Demps is a lousy general manager and none of those players are currently with the team anymore, and he may lose Anthony Davis.”
Yikes!
Demps hardly has a perfect record (I had expressed surprise he kept his job before pulling off the DeMarcus Cousins trade), but the Pelicans made it to the second round last season and sit undefeated three games into this one. He hired a great coach in Alvin Gentry, stuck with him, and now has a wildly interesting and competent team. And Stern is calling him a lousy general manager to wiggle out of old criticism over that whole CP3 saga?
This is classic Stern — he’s always been a fighter and has always been reluctant to accept blame. The NBA and Stern specifically failed to plan properly for how to keep him out of team business when the league took over the then-Hornets to avoid financial catastrophe. It came home to roost when CP3 requested a trade. Instead of acknowledging it was a tough situation that the NBA could have handled much better, Stern attacks Demps. This is classic Stern.
Oleh Kosel from The Bird Writes takes Stern to task for the undeserved shot at Demps, and the Pelicans actually struck back, too. (I wonder if Silver will feel obliged to say something.) The best response Demps can give is to keep building a great program worthy of keeping Davis in town.
I am fond of Stern for many reasons. What makes him great also makes him stay stuff like this. But this one is way too far out there for someone with Stern’s legacy. It’s just so unnecessary. Seven years after Basketball Reasons, there’s no reason to cut down someone to burnish your own cred.
Scores
Mavericks 104, Hawks 111
Nets 102, Cavaliers 86
Knicks 87, Heat 110
Timberwolves 105, Raptors 112
Hornets 110, Bulls 112
Jazz 100, Rockets 89
Pacers 116, Spurs 96
Sixers 108, Bucks 123
Lakers 131, Suns 113
Grizzlies 92, Kings 97
Wizards 122, Warriors 144
Schedule
On National TV:
Celtics at Thunder, 8 p.m. ET, TNT
Nuggets at Lakers, 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT
Before All That On League Pass:
Cavaliers at Pistons, 7 p.m. ET
Blazers at Magic, 7 p.m. ET
Links
SB Nation has a new podcast called It Seemed Smart, hosted by Spencer Hall. It’s about amazingly terrible/terribly amazing sports cheating plans gone awry. The first episode on the Great Bat Caper is incredible. Check it out, rate it and review it and tell Spencer you want more.
One night after Blake Griffin baptized the NBA season with its first 50-point night, Stephen Curry (literally) one-upped him with 51 in three quarters. Here are 12 amazing moments from it. Don’t tell anyone but Steph is looking very 2015-16 right now. (Regular season, not Finals.)
Mike Prada goes deep on Luka Doncic and what we talk about when we talk about athleticism.
The first of three trials resulting from the big FBI investigation into college basketball is done. Mike Rutherford breaks down the verdict and the fallout.
The highest 2018 draft pick still not to play a minute is ... Jerome Robinson, who could offer some shooting the Clippers need.
The Pelicans are putting a G League team in Birmingham, Alabama. Now Alabama and Mississippi will both have G League teams. Fantastic!
Five elite recruits react to the G League select contract plan. A couple seem at least interested.
Uh, Josh Jackson admits he threw a water bottle at the Pacers as an 8-year-old at Malice at the Palace. What a story!
An argument that the Pelicans are launching the NBA’s next revolutionary style of play.
Be excellent to each other.
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