One of the biggest what-ifs in NBA history is the lethal duo of Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. It is perhaps one of the biggest blockbuster trades to be vetoed. And according to Paul, he actually covered “a lot” of matters with Bryant since they all believed that the trade was going to push thru.

Chris Paul, now a guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, appeared on the “Knuckleheads” podcast with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles. In the interview, Paul shared some interesting details surrounding the trade. From the looks of it, Paul and Bryant were already setting up their goals for the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I was on the phone with my brother and my agent, and all that. We figuring out a plane to get to New Orleans to get us to LA … let’s just say my agent clicked over, said hold on, clicked over and then he came back on and he was like, stuttering. And we was hot. We was hot. Me and Kobe had talked, you know what I’m saying? We had talked already and all that. And it was a lot. It was a lot,” as transcribed by Christian Rivas of SB Nation.

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To recall, then NBA Commissioner David Stern vetoed the three-team trade that would've sent Paul from the New Orleans Hornets to the Lakers. The NBA owned the Hornets during that time. Stern pointed out that the entire city would be better off with keeping the guard. After several days of negotiations, Paul was finally to the other team in LA — the Clippers.