In the 2010-11 season, the Los Angeles Lakers’ bid for a third straight NBA championship failed when they were swept in the second round of the playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks. Their roster was getting long in the tooth, and an infusion of talent and energy was needed to get them back into the league’s upper echelon.
After a lockout was lifted in late autumn, executive Mitch Kupchak struck a trade agreement with the then-New Orleans Hornets that would’ve landed them Chris Paul in return for Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.
That deal would’ve radically changed the complexion of the Lakers and likely made them title contenders again. But it was vetoed by NBA commissioner David Stern, as the league had recently taken over ownership of the Hornets.
While Odom was reportedly inconsolable upon hearing the team tried to trade him, Gasol said on the “LADE Show with Odom and Aron Cohen” that he found a way to stay focused on his craft and his team.
“From my perspective, I went in and had a meeting with Mitch (Kupchak) and Mike Brown who was the coach and I said to myself: I love this city, I love this team, I understand why you guys might’ve decided to go that route. Would I agree with it or not obviously I’m not gonna get into that, but I’m gonna control what I can control and I’m gonna still be grateful and thankful to be here and I’m gonna do my best to help this team as I have done in the past.
“But it was difficult, because you can’t shake that off that easily as much as I tried in many ways. Because now its like this can happen. This can happen yesterday, this can happen tomorrow.”
Because of his hurt feelings, Odom was traded days later to the Mavs for a first-round draft pick, while Gasol ended up playing three more seasons with the Purple and Gold. During that time, the Hall of Fame big man was subjected to at least one other trade rumor, not to mention criticism from Lakers fans who accused him of being soft, but he kept his head up during that time and did his job well.
Gasol on Kobe Bryant's reaction
One had to figure that Bryant was upset by the trade veto since he was nearing the end of his prime and therefore the end of his window to add to his five NBA titles.
Gasol also had something to say about how the late Lakers great reacted to the situation.
“I think what I remember him saying, not just to me but to everyone else was like, ‘Hey, management make a decision. Stop going back and forth, if you wanna keep him, keep him.’ But players need to have, to some degree, peace of mind so they can be fully committed and they can give you their best […] But Kobe was like, basically more from the organization to me just saying, ‘Be direct with him because that’s gonna help him do what he does to the best of his ability.’
“I don’t know how much he was involved or not or how much of a say or didn’t. I don’t think he tried to get involved too much with that knowing him. But he always kind of stood up for his teammates and was there when he could be.”
The team made one last attempt to get one more ring out of Bryant and Gasol by trading for aging star point guard Steve Nash and star center Dwight Howard in the summer of 2012. But Nash, along with Bryant and a number of other Lakers players, suffered significant injuries during the 2012-13 campaign, and the team got swept in the first round of the playoffs.
That was the year when it seemed Lakers mystique and tradition came apart at the seams. But the Paul trade fiasco started it months prior.
