” It was crazy and exciting… We thought that with the two of us on the same team, we couldn’t lose. Then, with the snap of a finger, everything disappeared… »
Delivered in April 2016just before the retirement of the late “Black Mamba”, these words of Chris Paul about his possible cohabitation with Kobe Bryant in the backcourt of the Lakers sum up how much he regretted (and will probably regret forever…) not having been able to share the same jersey as his eldest, outside of Team USA.
In the middle of December 2011, everything seemed to come together for the Paul/Bryant duo to form on the side of Los Angeles. On the departure of Hornets (from New Orleans), “CP3” is logically in the sights of a bunch of teams, given his status as an All-Star leader, only 26 years old.
Of course, not all of them can afford it, because you have to let go of the heavy in return, but the “Purple & Gold” are more than a match. While their leaders would dream of forming an XXL “Big Three”, bringing Dwight Howard to California as a bonus, in order to respond to that of the Heat and return to the throne…
Attractiveness objective…
Finally, the Lakers manage to find an agreement with the Hornets and the Rockets, to recover Chris Paul by sending Pau Gasol to Houston, while New Orleans must get Lamar Odom, Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Goran Dragic in this story. A major exchange, which has everything to change the face of this league dominated by the Mavericks!
Yes, but here it is: david sternthe to commission of the time, has a say in this transaction, because the New Orleans franchise has belonged to the NBA since December 2010, due to the inability of George Shinn (ex-owner) to ensure its financial stability.
Coming out of a trying lockoutand probably put under pressure by some other leaders (including Dan Gilbert of the Cavaliers, even if he will logically deny it in a press release…), the big boss of the league thus decides to exercise his right of veto!
Officially, ” in the best interests of the Hornets ” because ” the team was better with Chris [Paul] under [ce] jersey “. Unofficially, for that the Hornets are attractive for a [repreneur] potential “, will confide Stu Jackson in 2021, former right arm of David Stern. ” With our role as interim owners, the goal was to attract a buyer for the franchise and then resell it to someone “.
Chris Paul moves from the Lakers… to the Clippers
In the camp of the Lakers, the pill is obviously hard to pass, some going straight so far as to speak of “punishment”, even if the NBA will authorize them to continue negotiations with the Hornets (and the Rockets), so as not to not weaken New Orleans too much so that the transfer is not again blocked by the to commission.
Finally, it will not be: Chris Paul will never join Kobe Bryant and others under the purple and gold tunic. On the other hand, he will indeed land in Los Angeles, but on the side of… Clippers. Because on December 14, 2011, six days after rejecting the “Purple & Gold” offer, David Stern accepted that of the neighbor angeleno : Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, a future first round of Draft…
As some like to say, the rest is history and the final word is for a man named Kobe Bryant, in April 2016 again.
” I knew which competitor was [Chris Paul] and I knew it would fit perfectly between us. We were starting to discuss what we were going to do and what patterns to use to make it work. But none of that ever happened… »
As for Chris Paul, he will confide this in July 2020: “ I always say I played for the Lakers for a short while. Like, a few hours… »
| Chris Paul | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2005-06 | NOP | 78 | 36 | 43.0 | 28.2 | 84.7 | 0.8 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 7.8 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 0.1 | 16.1 |
| 2006-07 | NOP | 64 | 37 | 43.7 | 35.0 | 81.8 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 8.9 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 0.1 | 17.3 |
| 2007-08 | NOP | 80 | 38 | 48.8 | 36.9 | 85.1 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 11.6 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 0.1 | 21.1 |
| 2008-09 | NOP | 78 | 39 | 50.3 | 36.4 | 86.8 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 5.5 | 11.0 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 0.1 | 22.8 |
| 2009-10 | NOP | 45 | 38 | 49.3 | 40.9 | 84.7 | 0.4 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 10.7 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 18.7 |
| 2010-11 | NOP | 80 | 36 | 46.3 | 38.8 | 87.8 | 0.5 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 9.8 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 0.1 | 15.9 |
| 2011-12 | LAKE | 60 | 36 | 47.8 | 37.1 | 86.1 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 9.1 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 0.1 | 19.8 |
| 2012-13 | LAKE | 70 | 33 | 48.1 | 32.8 | 88.5 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 9.7 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 16.9 |
| 2013-14 | LAKE | 62 | 35 | 46.7 | 36.8 | 85.5 | 0.6 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 10.7 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 19.1 |
| 2014-15 | LAKE | 82 | 35 | 48.5 | 39.8 | 90.0 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 10.2 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 19.1 |
| 2015-16 | LAKE | 74 | 33 | 46.2 | 37.1 | 89.6 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 10.0 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 19.5 |
| 2016-17 | LAKE | 61 | 32 | 47.6 | 41.1 | 89.2 | 0.7 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 9.2 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 0.1 | 18.1 |
| 2017-18 | HOO | 58 | 32 | 46.0 | 38.0 | 91.9 | 0.6 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 7.9 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 18.6 |
| 2018-19 | HOO | 58 | 32 | 41.9 | 35.8 | 86.2 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 8.2 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 15.6 |
| 2019-20 | OKAY | 70 | 32 | 48.9 | 36.5 | 90.7 | 0.4 | 4.6 | 5.0 | 6.7 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 17.6 |
| 2020-21 | PHX | 70 | 31 | 49.9 | 39.5 | 93.4 | 0.4 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 8.9 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 16.4 |
| 2021-22 | PHX | 65 | 33 | 49.3 | 31.7 | 83.7 | 0.3 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 10.8 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 14.7 |
| 2022-23 | PHX | 10 | 30 | 36.8 | 27.3 | 88.2 | 0.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 9.4 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 9.5 |
| Total | 1165 | 35 | 47.3 | 36.8 | 87.1 | 0.6 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 9.5 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 18.1 | |
