The Dallas Mavericks’ shocking trade that just sent Luka Doncic to Los Angeles prompted many fans to demand a veto on the deal from NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver. The last time a trade was vetoed in the league was in 2011 when then-commissioner David Stern stopped Chris Paul from going to the Los Angeles Lakers from the New Orleans Hornets.
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Matt Barnes revisited the situation during his appearance on Lakers legend Byron Scott’s Fast Break podcast. A few minutes into the show, Scott asked Barnes if the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors, the team that helped the 44-year-old get the first and only ring of his career, was indeed the best team he ever played for.
Barnes went into deep introspection for a moment and admitted that the Warriors team with Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala, all in their prime, was just something completely different than anything he had ever seen. However, he claimed that he had been part of other great teams as well.
Barnes mentioned the Lob City Clippers and the 2009-10 Orlando Magic. He also named the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers team that he was a part of since 2010. But Barnes claimed that Commissioner Stern’s decision to veto the Chris Paul trade really crippled the Lakers’ morale to get back to Championship form.
“The Lakers teams were good, with Kobe, and [Andrew] Bynum and [Pau] Gasol. I think what messed up the team was that was the year the CP3 trade got botched. Pau was supposed to go, Lamar was supposed to go…we got voided and then how do you bring someone back that you wanted to trade!” Barnes told Scott.
The 2017 NBA Champion explained that the franchise had already showed their hand by orchestrating the CP trade. After it got vetoed, they had to bring back their traded players, which was never going to restore the team’s harmony back.
Barnes thought that really messed with the ecosystem of the Lakers and led to their decline after the 2009 and 2010 Championship runs. But why exactly did David Stern veto the trade?
David Stern didn’t veto the CP3 trade as NBA commissioner
A lot of fans think that Stern used his powers as NBA commissioner to stop the Chris Paul trade. But that’s not entirely true. The Hornets were in the midst of a transition in ownership at the time.
Therefore, Commissioner Stern was acting as the Governor of the team in the absence of a majority owner. And he vetoed the trade on that basis, not as the NBA commissioner.
That’s exactly why Adam Silver can’t just step in and stop the Luka Doncic trade, unless the Mavs’ ownership group are looking to make him the team’s acting Governor.
