Paul still hates to think about it.
The 2011 trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers remains one of the biggest what-ifs in NBA history.
Nearly 15 years later, the recently retired point guard is still thinking about the moment that changed everything.
The Night Everything Changed
On December 8, 2011, the Lakers, New Orleans Hornets, and Houston Rockets agreed to a three-team deal that would have paired Paul with Kobe Bryant.
Then-Commissioner David Stern, whose league owned the Hornets at the time, vetoed the trade and cited "basketball reasons," rerouting Paul's career in the process.
Paul looked back on that night during a recent sit-down on The Pat McAfee Show.
"I remember where I was," Paul said. "Me and Kobe got on the phone and talked that night. It was a crazy time. But, I got the phone call, that, basically this trade ain't happening."
Paul, who retired in February after 21 seasons, was right in the middle of his prime when the deal fell apart.
He and Bryant had already spoken and started picturing what that backcourt could look like before it all went away.
What Could Have Been
The pairing would have brought together two of the most competitive players the league has ever seen.
Paul finished his career with 23,058 points and 12,552 assists across 1,370 games, while Bryant was coming off back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010 and averaged 25.3 points per game during the 2010-11 season.
Their bond went back to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where they pushed each other through early morning workouts while the rest of the team was still sleeping.
Instead of landing with the Lakers, Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, where he spent six seasons and helped turn the franchise into a playoff team during the "Lob City" years.
The Lakers were bounced in the second round that season and fell off quickly, not returning to the postseason until LeBron James arrived in 2018.
The Question That Never Goes Away
Paul never won a championship, getting closest with the Phoenix Suns in the 2021 Finals before losing four straight to the Bucks.
His final season with the Clippers ended in controversy after he was sent home and eventually traded to the Toronto Raptors, who waived him before he ever played a game.
The Lakers finished 53-29 this season before being swept by Oklahoma City in the second round, heading into another offseason where the franchise is trying to build around Luka Doncic.
Bryant passed away in January 2020, which makes the conversation about what could have been that much heavier.
Paul and Bryant never shared a backcourt in a real game, and while both had great careers on their own, the thought of what they could have done together still sits as one of the league's unanswered questions.
