Much has been made about the Lakers vetoed trade with Chris Paul, sending both the Los Angeles franchises in opposite directions. Despite seemingly getting the “all clear” by the league, David Stern vetoed the proposed deal in the 11th hour, a deal that would have sent Paul to the Lakers, Pau Gasol to the Rockets, and Lamar Odom to the Hornets. Instead, the Hornets rebooted and sent Paul to the Clippers.
In a special event Thursday night, Kobe Bryant revealed that he and Paul had a conversation in the time between the deal went from approved to disapproved by the league.
Kobe said CP3 called him after the Lakers deal went down and he was excited and then called him after Stern nixed it and he was upset.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) August 16, 2013
Kobe said CP3 called him and said, "Man, you won't believe it!" after trade broke down. #BasketballReasons
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) August 16, 2013
Does Kobe think @CP3 should be a Laker? "Legally speaking? Yeah. David Stern speaking? No."
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) August 16, 2013
After losing out on Paul, the Lakers shipped away Odom for next to nothing, swung a deal for Steve Nash, then dealt young big man Andrew Bynum one summer later for Dwight Howard. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting thought wondering how things might be different right now if the Lakers had Paul and Bryant in the backcourt instead of Nash and Bryant.