Lakers News: How Pau Gasol Handled Botched Chris Paul Trade

It couldn't have been easy to come back after the failed trade..

The infamous vetoed Chris Paul trade to the Lakers remains as one of the biggest “what ifs” in NBA history. It would have paired two stars in their prime together and given the Lakers a solid one-two punch for years. However, it wasn’t meant to be, and everyone moved on.

But LA was never the same after the botched trade. Realistically, how could they be? The team brought back the few players that they had just agreed to ship out. This included two core pieces to the team, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.

Former Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak recently opened up about the trade and how he saw players dealing with everything. He and a few other former members of the Lakers gave an interview with Sportskeeda as Gasol was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.

"It was tough when the trade was rescinded or undone. Both Lamar [Odom] and Pau were brought back to the Lakers. I’m sure, in their minds, it was bad enough that they had been traded. But now to come back, it was very difficult. Much more so for Lamar. Pau worked his way through it. He got through it. But I’m sure he never forgot it. Then when he became a free agent, we tried everything we could to try to bring him back and he chose to leave. I’m sure in the back of his mind"

Per SportsKeeda

It couldn't have been easy for any of the proposed players in the deal to return to their teams. The Lakers traded to move Gasol and it came back to bite them.

Former Lakers athletic trainer Gary Vitti also gave some insight into how Gasol and others dealt with the deal.

"Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol both felt betrayed by that. They both sacrificed parts of their game to make the Lakers successful. Then we turn around and trade him. Lamar never recovered from it. Pau was equally hurt by it, but was much more professional about it."

Per SportsKeeda

Things were weird after that, and LA never quite returned to championship form. Still to this day, the vetoed trade lives as a dark time for the Lakers. 

It forced them to break up a championship core, without getting much in return. But you live and learn, which is part of life. Everything is in the past now, and both Gasol and Odom are Lakers for life.

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