December 8, 2011 is a day that will always live in infamy for fans of the Los Angeles Lakers. On that day, then-NBA Commissioner David Stern shocked the basketball world by vetoing the Lakers’ trade for Chris Paul.
The move not only cost the team one of the league’s best young point guards, it also alienated Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol, both of whom were included in the deal. Odom refused to return to the team and Gasol never seemed the same after the fact.
Before that moment, the Lakers were the league’s most popular and glamorous franchise.