NBA Lockout: Who's Holding the League Hostage Now?

"It's a player's league," icon, Hall of Famer, and former decades-long head coach of the Utah Jazz, Jerry Sloan, said for the last time shortly before Deron Williams would be traded to the New Jersey Nets.

Indeed, the culmination of this fascinating fact reached it's peak with the vaunted Cleveland vacancy left behind by one LeBron James in the summer of the last season of NBA that business was run as usual. "The Decision" of James to "collude," as some assert, with contemporaries Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, to descend upon Miami has been both blessing and curse.

The applause was thunderous. A few wispy whistles of approval could be heard emanating from the crowd as the press conference was underway, introducing the team's new member...

"This has probably been the hardest 72 hours I've dealt with since I've been in the NBA. Initially, I had no interest in leaving... and I let that be known.

But after [redacted] shared his views about what he wanted for his team and the future, the contradict[ion], I really didn't think that I was gonna have to think of a different alternative when it came to playing... the game of basketball.

But again, with the elaborate talks and knowing [redacted]'s views on what he wanted for the team and the future, was very different from mine... the whole situation changed for me.

I contemplated and I thought about it. I really didn't speak publicly. I really didn't say too much, to my friends, or any of that, just to myself, trying to be comfortable with seeing myself in a [redacted] jersey."

Sounds like a superstar making a difficult move, doesn't it? It was, but not the one you're thinking it is.

That was Kevin Garnett in the July, 2007 press conference that set this snowball rolling on the slippery slope it now finds itself fecklessly speeding down.

Orchestrated by Boston Celtics' executive director of basketball operations, with an assist from Kevin McHale, Danny Ainge joined together the forces of fellow All-Stars Paul Pierce and Ray Allen with Garnett to create an almost superhuman force in the NBA's Eastern Conference, immediately dubbed "The Big Three." They jumped out of the gate to a 30-5 start amid growing whispers that they might match or best the league's all-time regular season record of 72-10 set by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Toni Kukoc's Chicago Bulls

Like those 1995-96 Bulls, the 2007-08 Boston Celtics would go on to win the Larry O'Brien trophy, but not before a reactionary move was made by the Los Angeles Lakers, the next step in the now-growing snowball.

In what has been billed as the greatest steal in NBA history, the Lakers moved bust Kwame Brown, picks and pieces, for Pau Gasol, adding him to Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom, going on to take the next two titles.

These two teams would comprise five of the six NBA Finalists from 2008 to 2010, a fact not unnoticed by the likes of superstars LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony.

About the time LeBron let go his hostage, much to the comical dismay of Cleveland Cavaliers' owner Dan Gilbert, Carmelo Anthony would bind the Denver Nuggets for 200 days with proverbial duct tape by refusing to sign an extension, instead demanding he be "super"-teamed with Amar'e Stoudemire on the New York Knicks. The Knicks are expected to complete their trifecta as soon as they're able by making a run at Chris Paul.

[Related: Dan Gilbert gets serious in comic sans]

With free agency pending the following offseason for the Utah Jazz's Deron Williams, and the All-Star point guard reportedly feuding with Sloan and spouting off remarks in the media like "That's why I (only) signed a three-year deal," Jazz brass opted to act by trading him before the inmates were running the asylum, as it seemed they were in so many other prominently placed franchises.

While NBA owners may have the bulk of the power, it's the players who have had the control. And owners like Dan Gilbert want it back.

Power-player owners like Gilbert are in it to win it, not merely turn a profit. They have an enormous emotional stake in winning the current lockout, if merely to prove a point about who's really in charge.

It's owners like Gilbert that are perfectly content to sit out a season, to steal a season from a "Benedict Arnold" in his prime, to pay back players for attempting to define their own futures.

[Related: Dan Gilbert is making money off of LeBron James again]

We will surely never know how exactly it went down, but San Antonio Spurs' owner Peter Holt reportedly quipped that "Players haven't felt enough pain yet," and it's obvious someone derailed the recent marathon meetings before even a verbal conclusion could be reached.

The NBA lockout is personal this time. These negotiations are their game, and they're very, very good at it. Men who have made a habit of making money by being ruthless fully intend to hold the league hostage.

For as long as it takes.