"The NBA, which owns the New Orleans Hornets, has rejected three offers in the past five days that would've sent all-star point guard Chris Paul to Los Angeles.

NBA Commissioner David Stern shot down the Lakers' first attempt last Thursday, nixing a three-team deal that would brought Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Lamar Odom to New Orleans and Pau Gasol to Houston. Stern then shot down another deal that added subtle changes to the package. When those talks collapsed, the Lakers backed out and sent Odom, disgruntled and hurt after being put on the trading block, to Dallas for a trade exception and a pick.

The Clippers then got involved, hoping to pair Paul with dunking machine Blake Griffin. But a deal that would've sent Eric Bledsoe, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman and a first-round pick to New Orleans collapsed as Stern and his advisers in the league office demanded more in return for the game's best point guard. "