Can you think of the last 10 years of Golden State Warriors without Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson? Well, there was a possibility of this being true back in 2011. Thunder star, Chris Paul had a chance to be traded to GSW for both the point guards of the team. Isn’t it something beyond the imagination of any NBA fan?
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A book, ‘The Victory Machine’ recently revealed that there was a possible trade of Chris Paul to Warriors in 2011 in exchange for the ‘Splash Brothers’. Moreover, CP3 himself called it a ‘true story’ on ‘Uninterrupted’ with Paul Rivera and Maverick Carter.
Golden State Warriors could have acquired CP3
“Yeah, I remember it. True story,” Paul admitted, “Yep. that happened with a few teams. I actually never wanted to come out west. I’m born and raised on the East Coast, so I never was crazy about [Los Angeles] and all that until I finally got out here and lived out here. But at that time, all I really knew about The Bay, because I had been there to play the games, and everything was so hilly.”
In his 2011 free agency period, Chris Paul went through a lot of trading options. There were rumors about him moving to Lakers as well but in the end, he landed up in Clippers. Chris Paul rightly said, “Everything happens for a reason.” It’s funny how this Warriors’ trade rumor never came out before this and it has come as a shock to everybody.
Larry Riley denies the trade rumor
Warriors former general manager, Larry Riley clearly denied any story of Paul coming in for the star duo. He told on 95.7, “First off, that’s false. That never took place. And therefore, I think everyone learned something. When you — I had to tell my mother this because she grew up in the days of Walter Cronkite — when you see something on TV or you read it in the newspaper, it’s not necessarily true.”
Nobody knows the true side of the story but still, it’s fascinating to imagine GSW without Klay and Curry. Larry Riley should consider himself lucky that the trade never happened. The franchise wouldn’t have faced their greatest time if not for the duo. With three championships and five consecutive finals appearances, Warriors became NBA favorites for a long series of seasons.
Now that it’s not a good time for Warriors after Kevin Durant moved to Brooklyn, the Splash Brothers don’t seem enough for the Warriors legacy!
