Stern, speaking in an in-depth interview with Sports Illustrated, said he didn't do a good job of explaining his reasoning for the trade veto at the time.
"There was a trade that Dell Demps wanted us to approve, and I said heck no, but he had told Daryl Morey and Mitch Kupchak he had authority to do it and he didn't," Stern said of the Houston Rockets' general manager and the former Los Angeles Lakers GM. "I said no. We just settled a lockout and you want me to approve a basketball trade?"
Despite a wave of heavy reaction, Stern did not waver in his decision.
"[Demps] had agreed to [trade Paul to the Lakers for] Kevin Martin and Luis Scola or something, and I said we can do better than that," Stern said, "... And the next trade was [to the LA Clippers for] Eric Gordon and Al-Farouq Aminu and what we thought was a really great draft pick, the 10th pick, which turned out to be Austin Rivers. At least those three and someone else [center Chris Kaman].
"But Dell Demps is a lousy general manager and none of those players are currently with the team anymore, and he may lose Anthony Davis," Stern said.
"I did it because I was protecting the then-Hornets," Stern said of the 2011 veto. "... To this day, everyone always asks me, 'Well why did you keep Chris Paul from going to the Lakers?' I didn't keep him. I didn't approve the trade. No team sells or trades a future Hall of Famer without the owner signing off, and I was the owner's rep.
"But I wasn't going to hand up Dell Demps."