Kobe Bryant retired from the NBA after 20 phenomenal seasons. Part of what made Bryant’s career among the most memorable was that he spent all of it with the Los Angeles Lakers.
But there was a time when that possibility was almost eliminated. Phil Jackson, now the president of the New York Knicks, revealed that he considered trading the eventual superstar back in 1999.
Following via Charley Rosen of Today’s Fastbreak:
“A couple of weeks later, we’re still winning and Shaq is completely motivated. But Kobe was only averaging about 19 points per game. So Kobe called Jerry West and wanted to know how Jerry and Elgin Baylor both averaged 30 points. Kobe also said that he wanted to be traded. Of course, Jerry told me about the conversation. And, for a few minutes I thought about taking the Pistons up on an offer they made to trade Kobe for Grant Hill. Make that a few seconds.
“The thing was that Kobe already saw himself as being one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA. I thought that, in time, he would indeed reach that goal.
“Anyway, he was not going to be traded. So we’d talk about being patient, and letting the game come to him. But Kobe would sometimes still go off on his own, disregarding the offense and trying to single-handedly take over the game. When I called him on this, he’d say that for us to keep on winning, there was a lot for him to do.”
It’s no secret that Kobe was a difficult player to get along with. His dedication and determination often led him to butting heads with others.
But at the end of the day, the Lakers clearly made the correct decision. Although Grant Hill had a strong career of his own, injuries never let him sustain his peak.
Kobe Bryant, meanwhile, became the face of the franchise for the next 17 seasons, helping lead the team to five championships. That’s not a bad haul from someone who was close to being traded.
