It has been a crazy couple of weeks since the NBA and the Players' Union agreed on a new CBA to end the marathon lockout that lasted since July. The league will open a 66-game season this Christmas Day with five major contests including a rematch of the NBA finals between the Mavs and the Heat.

What has been even crazier is the trade situation regarding Chris Paul and the league which owns the New Olreans Hornets. The deal was done to send the all-star point guard to the Los Angeles Clippers.

NBA commissioner David Stern appeared on ESPN Radio's The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Wednesday and naturally was asked many questions about the Chris Paul madness that included a rejection of a trade to the L.A. Lakers as well as the future of the team in New Orleans.

Cowherd asked the commissioner if the NBA brand has been hurt because of all of this with the lockout and the trade controversy.

"I think that come Christmas Day when the five games tip off, the brand such as it is will be very much alive and well," Stern said.

Stern defended himself on people's view that he was abusing his power as commissioner by rejected the three team deal with the Lakers and Rockets. "I think that what happened there is that people thought that somehow I was stepping in as commissioner and undoing something under the broad powers of the game and that could not be further from the truth," Stern told Cowherd.

Cowherd asked Stern about Dwight Howard and how possible it was that the league was stepping in on a trade for Howard that meets all salary cap demands. The commissioner lived up to his last name, bluntly explaining that the league was involved with the Paul trade was because the NBA owns the team and acted in the best interest of the team. "We don't own Orlando," Stern said. "That was problem with the media coverage. I was not acting in my role as commissioner to approve or disapprove every trade. I was acting on behalf of New Orleans."

Stern also stated on the show that the league, as the final decision maker for the Hornets, was not ready to make a trade for Paul when the three-team deal was presented and the league said no. "The people in New Orleans know that the league signs off on all trades and we received the parameters of that trade on Thursday afternoon at 5:30 (Dec 8)," Stern stated. "I know because I just finished the board meeting and was heading to the media. We said no we are not ready to make it, not approve it, to make it"

Cowherd asked Stern about a Houston Chronicle report that a source with direct knowledge of the situation said it is an outright lie that Stern did not see the three-way trade as a done deal. "They said it a few days back. The difference between sources, who have ability to maintain their amenity and the league office is that we speak the truth on the record. What the source said was that the source was told the league had signed off on it," Stern explained.

The Houston Rockets would have received forward Pau Gasol in the deal with the Hornets and Lakers.

Stern also told Cowherd that the league first knew of the trade when they did not allow it to go through. "I can assure you and I said today was the first time the league office knew of the suggested trade was when we said no."

Cowherd brought up the future of the Hornets in the Big Easy and that four or five candidates are in line to purchase the team. "I announced that at a press conference," Stern said. "I said that four or five are talking to a variety of people will be hoping be making the transaction in the 2012. The transaction cannot be finalized until the legislature meets and they don't meet until March," Stern said.

Cowherd asked why keep the Hornets in New Orleans when Seattle, Orange County and Kansas City are better options and Stern said the people have stepped up to support the team . "Why don't you go tell the people of New Orleans that?" Stern said. "That is a new one. So every time we have a team in the city, we should go look for some place else. They have 10,000 season tickets which place them above many other teams. Their sponsor commitments are higher. There cable arrangements are higher than most. It is not fair for someone like you to say why don't they go somewhere else."

Stern made a strong defense of his actions and, more importantly to Hornets fans, the league's commitment to the frachise's future in the Crescent City.