NBA History: 8 Years Since The League Vetoed Chris Paul Trade

The Lakers were part of a three-team trade with the New Orleans Hornets and the Houston Rockets that would have resulted in Paul being a Laker.

45 minutes after the trade was officially announced, league commissioner at the time, David Stern, vetoed the trade for “basketball reasons.”

Stern had the authority to veto the deal because at the time of this happening, the Hornets were without an owner, thus being owned by the league.