photo credit It was five years ago that the landscape of the NBA was almost changed in a huge way. It was this week back in December of 2011 that we thought Chris Paul was traded to the Lakers and he and Kobe Bryant were going to combine to be the best backcourt in the league. There were many players involved in the deal but the obvious focal point of it all was Paul but the trade never was completed after NBA commissioner David Stern allegedly vetoed it. The conspiracy theories ran wild at the time, with most accusing Stern of caving into pressure from other owners to not let the trade happen because of what it would do for the Lakers and how it would make the Hornets irrelevant. Stern remained very quiet in the aftermath of the trade not happening but he spoke about it this week and claimed the narrative we were all led to believe was completely false.