Lakers: Kobe Bryant Talks Chris Paul Trade Before Final Meeting With Clippers
By Eric Yee
Even superstars, Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant, still think about what should have been a Lakers’ superteam in 2011
By now we all know the series of unfortunate events that unfolded in the 2011-2012 season: the Los Angeles Lakers essentially traded Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom for Chris Paul, then 30 minutes later, David Stern happened and it was all downhill from there.
The relationships between Gasol, Odom and the Lakers were never the same. Los Angeles lost out on the player who was meant to succeed the great Kobe Bryant. The Purple and Gold’s destiny for a Kobe Bryant-Chris Paul-Dwight Howard super team disappeared in an instant.
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While we can sit here all day and discuss what could have, or rather should have been, it is interesting to hear Kobe and CP3’s take on the subject five years removed.
According to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, their 2011 conversations revolved around one thing: winning titles.
"Bryant said the phone call lasted about 20-30 minutes, and they weren’t talking about how many games they planned to win together.“You know me. My dream isn’t to win games,” Bryant recalled to ESPN this week. “It’s like, ‘How many of these titles are we going to win [together]?’ Because if we don’t win, we’re a failure.”"
Kobe also dished on the idea about Paul and him not working well together, even subtly firing a shot at old teammate, Shaquille O’Neal.
"Although both players are admittedly alpha males, Bryant believes they could have coexisted, even if they butted heads from time to time.“Butting heads is fine,” Bryant said. “If we didn’t butt heads, we wouldn’t have won championships. There’s different variations of healthy butting heads and not healthy. [Shaquille O’Neal] and I would butt heads in a very unhealthy way, but then we figured out how to make it happen."
More over,
"But I think Chris and I are really two completely different players, and where Shaq and I really butted heads was in the work ethic, because his size and injuries prohibited him from working as hard as he could have been working. So what I used to get on him about was that. That’s what we really disagreed on — the amount of focus and physical attention that it takes to win this damn thing. And so Chris and I would never have these issues."
While it’s impossible to tell exactly if what they say is true, that they could have co-existed and thrived as teammates, on paper a super of team of CP3, the Black Mamba and DH12 would have been dominant even in the top heavy Western Conference.
That said, with Kobe Bryant’s final game just on the horizon, fans would be wise to let go of the past and look forward to the bright future ahead of their once proud franchise.
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Cliches of “Everything happens for a reason,” and “It’ll all work out in the end” seem to be the most fitting sentiments despite the recent turmoil in LA.