I'm sure thats exactly what happened but I don't blame Gordon at all for being pissed off. "Growing a pair" as you describe it sounds as much about being cynical as it does developing business acumen. It's that kind of mutual cynicism for management and team leads to selfish behavior on both sides. E.g. LeBron and Dan Gilbert. Somebody said it earlier: the player who's not cynical about his standing probably takes the news harder than the player who is, but the player who is not cynical was probably happier with his team in the first place.
If Eric Gordon could win some actual games with Blake Griffin like Chris Paul is doing now, he wouldn't have gotten traded.
