One of the most infamous moments in NBA history almost looked very different. For years, fans have wondered what would have happened if Chris Paul had joined Kobe Bryant on the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011.
Now, Paul has revealed just how close the partnership came to becoming reality.
“It was very, very wild to say the least. It was crazy times, our team at the time was owned by the league. The league owned our team. We had just came out of CBA negotiations,” Paul said speaking on The Pat McAfee Show. “It’s a lot of stories that’s been out there now where people say this is what happened. I remember where I was.
“Me and Kobe had actually got on the phone and talked that night and then it was basically like a little shit storm from there. It was a crazy time and just knowing the emotional roller coaster that it was at the time was really different. But I got the phone call basically that this trade ain’t happening no more.”
At the time, the NBA owned the New Orleans Hornets, creating a unique situation that ultimately gave the league enormous influence over the transaction. The recently completed collective bargaining negotiations also played a major role in the outcome, according to Paul.
“After sitting through all those CBA negotiations when we came out they wanted to…the whole point of that CBA negotiation was to make the league more balanced,” Paul noted. “And so I gotta go back and look at the letter that a few of the owners I guess sent in. But I guess when the trade happened a lot of the owners from other teams was like, ‘I guess that ain’t competitive balance.’ So because the team was owned by the league, all the different owners felt like, I think they had ownership of the team. It’s no go.”
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