Supreme Court rules 5-4 to overturn Stepien rule

In a shock ruling late last night, the US Supreme Court overturned the Stepien rule, the landmark regulation enacted in 1983 to prevent teams from trading consecutive first round picks. In their ruling, the justices made extensive reference to Dr Naismith’s 13 Rules of Basketball; Justice Alito wrote: “The inescapable conclusion is that a restriction on trading picks is not deeply rooted in the League’s history and traditions. On the contrary, an unbroken tradition of flipping future assets in increasingly desperate moves to bolster mediocre teams persisted from the earliest days of the league until 1983”. He continued: “It is time to heed the 13 Rules and return the issue of trading first round picks to the league’s owners and general managers. The permissibility of trading first round picks, and the limitations upon it, are to be resolved like most important questions in our league: by short-sighted front offices with little interest in team prospects beyond their tenure.” Reports of celebratory jubilations and party poppers in the locales of Salt Lake City and Brooklyn are as yet unconfirmed to be linked to this news.