All-Star guard Chris Paul remains in New Orleans for now, but he'll likely be wearing a different uniform this season. (US PRESSWIRE)

LeBron James opened a new can of worms last summer with his controversial “Decision.”

Chris Paul and Dwight Howard are now following James’ villainous lead, holding their teams hostage by refusing to sign long-term deals with their current teams. Paul is on his way to the Los Angeles Clippers after the Hornets were unable to convinced him to sign an extension. The Orlando Magic are on the brink of losing Howard, who recently told Orlando management that he wants to be traded.

If these storylines look and sound familiar it’s the same predicament the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Denver Nuggets found themselves in 2010 when LeBron held the Cavaliers hostage before signing with the Miami Heat, and months later Carmelo Anthony practically followed LeBron’s lead by putting the Nuggets on pause until he found a new home with the New York Knicks.

This player power play is the very reason why NBA owners wanted to change the system. Small-market teams don’t want another LeBron or Carmelo situation in which they were left empty-handed and nothing to showcase for their fans. Teams want a headliner to fill seats. The Hornets will feel the sting of losing Paul, considered one of the top points guards in the league and a four-time NBA All-Star. Even though the Hornets got some nice pieces in the trade – Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman and a first-round pick – you don’t give up a Chris Paul and get equal value. The same goes for the Magic. Should Howard leave Orlando, how are the Magic going to satisfy their season-ticket holders at new Amway Center without the best center in the game today? These are legitimate concerns by the owners, but their hands seem to be tied because today’s stars seem determined to dictate where they want to go.

“First and foremost, we want Dwight to re-sign here,” Magic president Alex Martins said. “We’re going to continue to give him every resource, every asset that he needs and that we need to be successful. I think we’re proven that over the course of the last four years in particular, but certainly his entire time here. Only two other teams in the league have won more than we have over the last four years.”

An Orlando Magic fan shows her support for Dwight Howard during the third quarter of game five of the 2011 NBA playoffs at Amway Center. (US PRESSWIRE)

Howard publicly criticized the Magic recently for not doing enough to meet his demands. His wise list, of course, includes big-market, sexy teams like the Lakers (so he could join forces with Kobe Bryant), the Mavericks (so he could play with Dirk Nowitzki), and the Nets (so he could play with Deron Williams). The Magic went through this before with Shaquille O’Neal in 1996, and it took the franchise nearly a decade before they were able to recover from Shaq’s departure.

It’s a little baffling that current star players are hell-bent on joining other stars. It is definitely a complete turn from the 1980s and ’90s when megastars such as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan would never dream of playing elsewhere. What ever happened to competitive ego? Twenty years ago, superstars preferred to build their own niche and won championships as the centerpiece. Now, it seems today’s stars are more than willing to share the limelight with other all-stars.

“Gone are the days when teams are built around [star players] and they end their careers there,” said former Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell. “These players today are about quick gratification. They see guys moving around and they see guys having success [elsewhere]. So what you have to do is make the best deal you can. Try to make a deal, get young players , draft picks, be bad for a couple of years and suck it up.”

Paul says he wanted out of New Orleans because he didn’t think he had a chance to win a title with the Hornets. Howard’s Magic career so far has been defined by his numerous failures in the playoffs and the big man is becoming impatient with each passing season. However, not everybody can play in L.A. or New York. Someone has to play in these small markets.

Message to Dwight: Suck it up and try to win in Orlando instead of riding someone’s tail.

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Chris Paul is averaging 18.7 points, 10.2 assists and 6.0 rebounds through six games, leading the Hornets to a 6-0 start. (GETTY IMAGES)

NBA TV is currently airing a show titled “24 Hours with …. Chris Paul.” It shows a very revealing look at the life of an NBA star, from the time he leaves his home to attend practice, to his game preparation and then back home again to recharge and deal with family life.

If you haven’t seen it, I suggest watching it because it provides a very personal look at the best point guard in the NBA. Yes, the BEST point guard in the NBA. He’s back! Just like the song, “Y’all must have forgot,” we all seem to have forgotten CP3.

Last year, he missed most of last season with an injury and a lot of pundits elevated guys such as Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo and Derrick Rose to the top of the point guard competition.

Well, the king is back and he wants his crown back.

D-Will is nice, but he doesn’t have CP3′s ball-handling and passing skills. Rondo is an amazing passer, but he can’t score like Paul can. And D-Rose may be the quickest PG in the NBA, but he still has a long ways to go in terms of managing a game and running an offense.

Chris Paul is the most complete point guard in the league, and if there were any questions regarding his status as the top guard he has certainly answered the call with the way he has played during the first two weeks of the 2010-11 season.

Paul has the Hornets buzzing again, sitting atop the Southwest Division at 6-0. The Hornets are one of three undefeated teams in the Association and one of their wins came against Eastern Conference power Miami. Against the Heat, Paul had 13 points and 19 assists and powered the Hornets to a 96-93 victory at home. It was New Orleans’ signature victory of the young season, and the team owes it all to its perennial All-NBA performer.

“We just got to keep playing, man. I’m not surprised just because we’re all professionals,” Paul told the Associated Press. “It doesn’t matter what it looks like on paper, you just have to go out and play the game and that’s what we’re doing.”

The Hornets are off to the best start in their history, but it depends on how this season ends that could decide what Paul will do in the offseason. He will become a free agent after this season and the Hornets are caught in a LeBron-like situation. They could very well lose Paul without any compensation (sound familiar), which would likely end basketball in New Orleans.

Paul said publicly during the offseason that he wants to play for a championship and he’s getting a little frustrated with the direction of the franchise. Then he saw his good friend LeBron James jump ship and join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, so that got his blood boiling even more.

That was before Paul met with Monty Williams, a young and bright assistant coach who was hired last summer to be the head man of the Hornets. Williams has convinced Paul that things will be different, and so far he has delivered on his promise.

The Hornets are playing with more energy and their defense has been superb. Also, offensively, Emeka Okafor and David West have benefited greatly from Paul’s return and the addition of Trevor Ariza has given the team a versatile player who can score and defend at the wing position.

“It’s nice to be part of a group who plays hard every night. Different guys are stepping up. The start is great, but we are going to win a lot of games if we play defense like that,” said Williams, who worked as Nate McMillan’s assistant coach from 2005-10 so he knows a thing or two about playing defense. He also played for Gregg Popovich so he puts a premium on stability and organization.

Seems as though Paul has bought into Williams’ philosophies and things are looking up. Their relationship will ultimately determine whether the New Orleans Hornets will be a perennial playoff team or a franchise that could be contracted.

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Shaquille O'Neal has yet to sign with an NBA team. (GETTY IMAGES)

August is nearly here and Shaquille O’Neal is still a free agent. Not many teams are jumping at the chance to snag The Big Diesel, who is reportedly asking for a two-year deal worth around $8 million. O’Neal will be 39 years old in March and his once imposing presence and larger-than-life reputation has become nothing but a distant memory.

If O’Neal posted his resume on Craigslist it would read something like this: Three-time NBA Finals MVP looking for work …. Funny, outgoing and likes to come up with nicknames …. Prefers to play for a winning program ….  can only work half a season, and preferably just 24 minutes a day  and no more than 150 minutes per week …. Salary: negotiable …. Medical benefits: needs full coverage because of preexisting condition …. Work experience (by city): Orlando, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix and Cleveland …. Unique skills: space eater, hard to move, very strong …. Hobbies: likes to rap and dance (part-time member of the hip-hop group Jabbawockeez: America’s Best Dance Crew) …. References: available upon request.

If he retires now, after 18 seasons, O’Neal will leave with four championships, three NBA Finals most valuable player trophies and 15 All-Star game appearances, and he is second all-time in field-goal percentage at .581.

All those numbers are certainly good enough to put him in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., but they all could have been better.

Shaq says he wanted to leave the game with at least five championships. He won three with the Lakers and one with the Heat, which leaves him one short of his goal. O’Neal could have won more than three with the Lakers, but he wasted a lot of “company time” arguing with Kobe Bryant. He won just one regular season MVP (2000) and never played more than 79 games in each of his eight seasons in L.A.

Although he helped lead the Heat to an NBA title in 2006, it was Dwyane Wade who was named Finals MVP. The last time O’Neal was an MVP was his first year in Miami (2005). From that point on, O’Neal’s scoring average has dropped like the stock market.

His 28,255 points puts him fifth on the all-time list for now, but he could have easily surpassed 30,000 had he not missed more than 5,000 free throws. Last year, he averaged just 12 points and six rebounds – half of what he averages for his career.

There were reports that the Hawks were interested in signing O’Neal, but their interest has diminished. The Celtics, who are in need of big men, toyed with idea of bringing in Shaq to fill the void left by Kendrick Perkins, who is expected to be out until January after knee surgery. Boston ended up signing an O’Neal, but it wasn’t Shaquille. Instead, the Celtics and Jermaine O’Neal agreed to a two-year deal and if Rasheed Wallace comes out of retirement it would be foolish for the Celtics to go after Shaq.

The Spurs were in The Diesel’s radar, but the signing of Brazilian center Tiago Splitter, the best big man in Europe last season, pretty much ended a Shaq-Duncan pairing.

So which teams can afford to fit O’Neal into their plans? Here are seven possible destinations for Shaq:

– New Orleans Hornets: Shaq played at LSU and wouldn’t mind a return to the Bayou. The Hornets have Emeka Okafor as their starting center, but he’s not immune to getting dealt. If the Hornets decide to keep Okafor, O’Neal will have to swallow his pride, take a pay cut and be Okafor’s backup. Not likely to happen, unless Chris Paul tells management that he wants to play with Shaq.

– Milwaukee Bucks: The injury to Andrew Bogut may take a while to heal, so the Bucks are looking to rent a center for a few months. Head coach Scott Skiles still holds Shaq in high regard and has maintained a solid relationship with The Big Aristotle. Shaq would fit right in Milwaukee and be the strong personality in the locker room for the young Bucks.

– Oklahoma City Thunder: OKC acquired 6-11 center Cole Aldrich in the draft, but they certainly wouldn’t mind adding more size to their already very quick and athletic roster. However, Shaq will be a huge liability on both ends of the court and GM Sam Presti may be reluctant to bring in a big personality like the self-proclaimed MDE that would stunt the growth of 21-year-old leaders Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

– Atlanta Hawks: There is still an outside chance that O’Neal signs with the Hawks to bolster their very small frontline. But O’Neal must take less money or else this could be a deal-breaker.

– Boston Celtics: Ditto. If Shaq wants to have another shot at winning a championship ring, the Celtics may be his best opportunity. But, are the Celtics still interested?

– L.A. Clippers: Shaq back in L.A.? Wouldn’t that be something. This would be a longshot given the Clippers’ history of not being big players in the offseason, but bringing in a guy like Shaq would certainly upgrade the Clippers brand off the court. On the court, O’Neal would have to play behind Chris Kaman, but that’s easier said than done. O’Neal’s massive ego may not be able to handle that demotion. But if O’Neal agrees to play second fiddle and takes less money, it would certainly would inject some HGH into the Lakers-Clippers rivalry.

– Cleveland Cavaliers: Another longshot given Shaq’s wish of playing for contender. The Cavaliers’ championship aspirations went out the door as soon as LeBron James said “Good-bye to Cleveland” and “Hello to Miami.” O’Neal played with new Cavs head coach Byron Scott with the Lakers so playing for B-Scott shouldn’t be problem.

And should all of these teams pass on The Big Free Agent, there’s always a spot open with the Jabbawockees.

Shaquille O'Neal performs with the Jabbawockeez at the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

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