The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the NBA and, to date, have won seventeen championships. They are tied with the Boston Celtics. The Lakers attempted to acquire Kevin Garnett in 2008 and Chris Paul in 2011, but the trades were not completed.
The trade of Chris Paul was halted by the then-NBA commissioner, David Stern. In “Podcast P with Paul George,” Brian Shaw sheds light on what happened during those times and reveals the story behind the trade. Shaw was the Lakers’ assistant coach from 2005 to 2011.
He shared, as per Fadeaway World, “Kevin Garnett wanted to get out of Minnesota at that time. Everybody was hoping, because at that time, Kobe had switched over to Nike, KG was an Adidas guy. Kobe had started out being Adidas. So, we thought there was a chance KG would want to come and play with Kobe… KG ended up going to Boston and we ended up with Pau, which worked out great. They beat us in ’08. but then we won the championship in 2009 and in 2010, we avenged the loss from 2008.”
He further continued, “We had gone through some stuff where we traded for Chris Paul and David Stern stepped in like, ‘Nah, that ain’t happening’… Stern was a gangster. It happened and then it didn’t. What helped him make that not happen was that New Orleans owners at that time were selling the team, but the team was being controlled by the NBA. All the other teams are complaining that the small market teams don’t have a chance because the larger markets always can afford to pay the stars. Lamar was going to end up in Dallas as a part of the trade. Then Stern came in and vetoed the trade.”
Both Paul and Garnett conversed about the potential of collaborating with the icon, Kobe Bryant. According to Fadeaway World, Garnett also shared in 2007 that he attempted to contact Kobe so that if his deal could work, he might come and play with the Lakers.
He had shared, “I wanted to get Kob’s take on whether he thought his Lakers were right for me. I called him. No answer. Called a second time. No answer. Checked my phone to make sure I had the right number: Bean Bryant. Go over the digits carefully. Yes, sir, that’s the number. Let me try this again. Fifth time. Sixth. Before calling the 14th time, I asked my wife, “Should I try him again?” “Yes,” she said. “It’s your future.” I even asked Tyronn Lue, who was close to both of us, to get him to holler at me, but Bean never did. After my 20th time, I figured enough was enough. Only later did I learn that he was in China for a long while. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t getting messages.”
Chris Paul was close to playing with Kobe in the Lakers but due to political power, the deal was turned around and Paul was sent to the Clippers. He also shared that Black Mamba and he were eyeing the partnership.
As per the report, he stated, “Me and Kob was just wired the same. His talent was outrageous but when played against each other, we was about to fight just about every time just because we was both on the same energy… I hate that that opportunity didn’t get to happen because especially at that point in my career, I always knew how good Kobe was even at catch-and-shoot, but he’s never got the chance to show that part of his game. Had we got a chance to play together, I think it could have been fun.”
However, despite the failed trades, Bryant became one of the greatest players to ever grace the basketball court and left his incredible mark in the league. If the trades were completed, it might have been possible for the Lakers could win more championships with such additions.
