Drunk-dialing CEOs and angry owners and Ricky Rubio … oh my!

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m loving the new NBA. 66 games? That’s great. Season was too long anyway. And there was so much juicy news this week too. I could care less if the league ever starts holding games.

Let’s begin:

• First off, Rubio arrived in the Twin Cities earlier this week to prepare for his long-awaited debut with the Minnesota Timberwolves. I got a hunch if the Wolves carry any sort of a pulse this year that the Minnesotans will be falling all over each other for this guy. One thing is for sure: He likes potato chips in this country (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a story from his first day in Minnesota).
• A Chris Paul-to-Los Angeles Lakers trade was nixed late Thursday night. And reports are the NBA owners – who happen to own Paul’s current team the New Orleans Hornets – were so angry about the deal that they pleaded for NBA commissioner David Stern to do something. And now the trade is off, but the teams are reportedly still talking to each other about a trade. Seems like this labor deal didn’t work out as well for the owners as everyone thought. By the way, did you see Dan Gilbert’s email to Stern that was leaked? If not, you need to. I thought it was fake at first. Doesn’t sound like it.
• And finally, on-his-way-out Orlando Magic CEO Bob Vander Weide is in hot water over reports that he drunk-dialed Dwight Howard in hopes of keeping Howard on the Magic. Vander Weide does admit to having a couple glasses of wine before reaching out to Howard though. Too funny.