During his time with the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant had a few instances where it looked like he would leave the franchise.
Due to drama and the direction of the team, Bryant threatened the Lakers with trade requests. Fortunately, Los Angeles never listened and instead did their best to build a championship roster around their superstar instead. The gamble worked as Bryant would lead the Lakers to two more championships and immortalize himself in NBA history.
Jerry West is credited with taking a swing on Bryant during the 1996 NBA Draft and the two remained close during their time together in the NBA. Even after West departed L.A. to become the general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies, the two kept in touch.
In fact, in an appearance on ‘Podcast P with Paul George,’ West revealed he dissuaded Bryant from coming to Memphis as a free agent in 2004:
“He became a free agent. Ok? And he called me and his agent then was Rob Pelinka. And so I met them in Orange County in a hotel room and he said he wanted to come to Memphis and play basketball. And I looked at him, I said, are you kidding me? And he said no, and I said, Kobe, no, no. You know, it’s just you belong somewhere out here. And even though he would have never played there, I just want to reassure him that don’t feel like you have any obligation with me or the Grizzlies to play here and because he would have never played there, it wasn’t gonna happen.”
Bryant playing with the Grizzlies would’ve looked odd, so Lakers fans have to feel grateful that West was able to change his mind and keep him in purple and gold. Bryant’s Memphis ties didn’t end there, though, as the purple and gold eventually swung a trade for Pau Gasol who helped Bryant capture those two championships in 2009 and 2010.
The Black Mamba would end up playing 20 years with the Lakers and cementing himself as arguably the greatest player in franchise history. West understood what was at stake and he ultimately made the right call.
Chris Paul hates he never got opportunity to play with Kobe Bryant
While Gasol got the opportunity to play alongside Bryant, the same can’t be said for Chris Paul. Paul looked like he was heading to the Lakers after a blockbuster trade was accepted, but David Stern infamously vetoed the deal.
Even after all these years, Paul admitted that he hates that he never got the chance to play with Bryant in L.A.
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