This just in: Chris Paul won’t be leaving New Orleans.
At least not on his original schedule, forcing a trade to the Knicks to join Amare Stoudemire and free agent signee Carmelo Anthony, which he tossed into his toast at Anthony’s wedding last summer.
Perpetually-looking-for-a-home George Shinn no longer owns the Hornets. The NBA does.
Commissioner David Stern mused the franchise is “worth” $300 million — which isn’t what he’s paying with more than $100 million in debts.
Not that this means the NBA model is broken, as Stern insists it is going into labor talks.
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If it were, he really would have contracted — as he once suggested he might with the Hornets in mind.
This is about avoiding a fire sale with prospective buyers spooked by Stern’s dire forecast of a labor stoppage.
New, improved Hornets: One way or another, this will produce a viable new franchise, wherever it may be.
Already subsidized by the State of Louisiana, Stern suggests the Hornets need more — on the level of what the NFL’s Saints get.
Of course, the Saints are beloved.
The city barely knows the Hornets exist. Attendance is so low, the team soon might be able to opt out of its lease, becoming — drumroll, please — free agents.
With a new CBA and more “inducements,” the Hornets would be more attractive, be it there or Seattle, Las Vegas, Kansas City or Anaheim.
But the Hornets aren’t going anywhere without a state-of-the-art arena, inducements, et al.
What Stern didn’t want: Despite bumper prices paid by the new owners of the Wizards and Warriors, the nightmare franchise-devaluing scenario was Bob Johnson’s sale of the Bobcats to Michael Jordan for an announced $275 million. Insiders say Jordan assumed most of the debt, putting up less than $50 million in cash.
Tweet nothing: Latest from the prolific pen of Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who Tweeted after the Heat routed his team: “Words don’t express my feelings so I won’t even try. Know this: There’s nothing U are feeling that I’m not. The best B-Ball player ever once said: ‘My pain was my motivation.’ And so it will be with us.” … This would mean more if anyone took Gilbert as seriously as he takes himself.
They said it:
ESPN analyst Chris Mullin, on the Celtics: “You know the key to their team? There are too many keys. The opposing team comes in and says, we’re going to shut down (Rajan) Rondo and KG ( Kevin Garnett) and then Paul Pierce and Ray Allen explode. Shaquille O’Neal is a great fit. (Glen) Big Baby Davis is wonderful. … The biggest thing is Kevin Garnett’s health has improved drastically and he’s back where he was two years ago.”
Sam Smith of Bulls.com, on the Heat’s rout of the Cavaliers in LeBron James’ return: “Dan Gilbert is now composing a letter on what a disappointment Booby Gibson is.”
Cavaliers coach Byron Scott, on going from the Lakers to the expansion Grizzlies: “I never drank beer until I got to Vancouver and we started losing. I would stay up after games until 2 in the morning. I was like, ‘I can’t deal with this.’ “It helped me to understand the difference between losers and winners. There’s a big difference.”
The Suns’ Steve Nash, a boyhood soccer player, on the selection of Qatar to host the 2012 World Cup: “No beer in Qatar? No Canadians going! The bribe must have been large to outbid Budweiser’s sponsorship.