Blog: Dan Gilbert Strikes Again

Rahshaun Haylock (CBS) -- They say your true character is revealed in times of adversity.

On more than one occasion Cleveland Cavaliers owner, Dan Gilbert, has had a chance to show us his true colors.

There was the outrageous statement that he made when LeBron James announced he was taking his talents to Miami.  Gilbert had the nerve to call James "cowardly," and "narcissistic."

Then there was him lowering the prices of the James' Fathead to $17.41, the birth year of Benedict Arnold.

However his most recent act, and of most importance to Lakers fans, was his letter to NBA commissioner David Stern last week begging him to not allow the trade for Chris Paul to go through.

Really Dan?

You kicked, screamed, moaned, cried, squealed, and whined you're way out of this one --and it worked.

Similar to the little girl on aisle four because mommy said no more candy.

No to mention, your conflict of interest parallels even the most extreme white collar crimes.

You step in as one of the "owners" of the Hornets while expressing your clear disdain for the Lakers, while not having the Hornets' best interest in mind in the least.

To quote your email to the commish, "I cannot remember ever seeing a trade where a team got by far the best player in the trade and saved over $40 million in the process. And it doesn't appear that they would give up any draft picks, which might allow to later make a trade for Dwight Howard."

I would pour you another glass of haterade, but I think you've had enough.  The fact that Howard's name is even mentioned in your email is absurd.  And the fact that you accused the Lakers of doing something before it happened --and got away with it -- is beyond me.

Last I checked, a main objective of the Lockout the fans were subjected to over the last five months was to get teams to spend less.  So if the Lakers get better on the floor and save money in the process, that's a double-whammy for you.  Not only are they better, to a degree, but the money they save takes money out of your pockets because non-tax paying teams are the beneficiary of the money spent by teams over the luxury tax, like the Lakers.

Hmmm.

So that's money that would have been saved by the Lakers had they not made any further moves following the Paul trade.  With all due respect to Derrick Caracter, I don't think he was in the plans to be the opening day starter at power forward.  Furthermore, you go on to imply the trade shouldn't go through because of what the Lakers might do next and that's trade for Dwight Howard.  That, of course, in your opinion, would be able to happen because of the trade exception obtained and the fact that the Lakers didn't have to give up any draft picks in the process.  That's fantastic, because I'm sure whether the Lakers would have given up was the 27th or the 30th pick in the draft to the Magic would have had a HUGE bearing on Otis Smith pulling the trigger on the trade.

Not once was there any mention how the Hornets got better from a basketball standpoint.  Not once was there any mention of the reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year was on his way to the Big Easy with Kevin Martin (at least 20 ppg for the last four seasons), Luis Scola (above average NBA talent; 14 ppg/8 rpg career), and up and coming talent Goran Dragic.

So now Lamar Odom, beloved by Angelenos, is so distraught he can't play here any more so he's shipped to the World Champion Dallas Mavericks for a trade exception and a pick and that's ok?

Meanwhile, the explanation to America for all of this is "basketball reasons" when actually it should have just been "Gilbert reasons."

Whatever happened to that promise you made to Cavs fans about winning a championship before LeBron did with his new team?  It appears you're too busy trying to stop others from pursuing a championship instead of trying to pursue one of your own with money as your sole objective.

No wonder LeBron left.  Maybe working for you just wasn't the right fit.  Who knows?  Perhaps LeBron is all of those things you said he was, "self-serving," "narcissistic," and "cowardly."

I wonder where he got it from?