Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant were on the phone that night in 2011, already talking like teammates, already building the dynasty that Laker Nation never got to see.
The Chris Paul Lakers trade should have changed everything. Instead, it became the most painful “what if” in franchise history when then-NBA commissioner David Stern vetoed the blockbuster deal and robbed the Lake Show of a guaranteed championship pairing.
The phone call that never became a partnership
Speaking on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Paul finally opened up about the emotional chaos surrounding the scrapped trade that would have sent him to Los Angeles to play alongside the Black Mamba.
“It was very wild to say the least,” Paul revealed. “I remember where I was, and me and Kobe had actually got on the phone and talked that night. And then yeah, it was basically like a little s–t storm from there.”
That phone call represented everything Lakers fans dream about — two future Hall of Famers plotting their run at rings together in purple and gold. Instead, it became a phantom conversation, a glimpse at a reality that Stern decided the league couldn’t allow.
How the NBA killed a dynasty
The circumstances made the veto even more painful. The New Orleans Hornets were owned by the NBA itself after former owner George Shinn’s financial problems forced the league to take control of the franchise.
Paul believed the deal was done once the lockout ended. He was already mentally wearing purple and gold, already planning with Kobe, already thinking championships.
“It was a crazy time, and just knowing the emotional roller coaster that it was at the time was really different,” Paul said. “But I got the phone call basically that this trade ain’t happening no more.”
The timing was suspicious. Paul had served on the executive committee during contentious collective bargaining negotiations, and league owners reportedly balked at seeing a small-market team lose their superstar after the NBA spent months fighting for competitive balance.
What Laker Nation lost
The fallout redirected NBA history. Paul went to the Clippers instead — literally across the hallway at Staples Center — where he built “Lob City” with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
That Clippers era was fun. But fun doesn’t hang banners. Fun doesn’t add to the Lakers’ championship legacy. Fun doesn’t give Kobe another ring or two before his Achilles injury derailed his prime.
The Chris Paul Lakers trade would have created an instant contender. Paul in his absolute prime, averaging 18.8 points and 9.8 assists at the time, running pick-and-rolls with Kobe and Pau Gasol. The front office botched plenty of opportunities during that era, but this one wasn’t their fault — the league literally stepped in and killed the deal.
Lakers fans still calculate the what-ifs. How many championships does CP3-Kobe win together? Two? Three? Does Kobe retire with six rings instead of five? Does the purple and gold stay dominant instead of entering the dark years that followed?
“For Lakers fans, it’s still impossible not to wonder how many championships that partnership might have produced,” Paul admitted, speaking the truth that haunts Laker Nation to this day.
The organization has recovered — LeBron James and Anthony Davis delivered banner 17 in 2020. But that doesn’t erase the sting of what Stern stole from the Lake Show, or make fans forget that phone call between two legends who never got to prove they could dominate together.
