The Lakers would had never traded Kobe Bryant to the Dallas Mavericks

Mark Cuban made the news last week as he revealed that the Mavericks were close to bringing Kobe Bryant to Dallas in 2007. That would unite Dirk and Kobe in the same team, two of the three players who played more than 20 seasons with the same team. However, according to new reports, the Lakers would never have considered trading Kobe Bryant to another team. Also, it is worth noting that the legend had a no trade clause in his contract.

Cuban said during an interview that the deal was almost done. "I was going back and forth with Dr. Buss, and I forgot who called who, I think he called me, actually, and said, ‘Look, we think we might be parting ways with Kobe,’” However, according to NBA analyst Marc Stain, the Lakers never had a proposition from the Mavericks, ,“Yet two sources familiar with the Lakers’ thinking at the time contend that the trade, from their perspective, was not as close to completion as Cuban sensed.” said Stein.

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Stain then said that one of his sources put Detroit over Dallas, but after all, Bryant had a no-trade clause in his contract which would've meant that Bryant had to choose the team where he would've go. "The Lakers took only one proposed trade that summer to Bryant to gauge his willingness to waive the no-trade clause he possessed… to Detroit rather than Dallas. Bryant vetoed the trade to the Pistons headlined by Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince instantly and wound up reporting to training camp when the Lakers, in circumstances reminiscent of Brooklyn’s now, stopped looking for trades.”

In the end, none of the trades happened. Instead, Kobe decided to make a move during the offseason that marked another step with the Lakers, as he changed his jersey number from No.8, to No.24. After that, Kobe would end up winning two more championships with the Purple and Gold. He also won his first and only MVP award the year after this trade happened. It's fair to say that Bryant enjoyed his last 9 years with the team.

Kobe Bryant TV Special

This Tuesday, August 23, the Lakers will release a TV special honoring the late great, Kobe Bryant. The Lakers’ TV network announced it would air a compilation of interviews conducted throughout Bryant’s 20-year Lakers career to show what kind of person he was when he was not playing. The special “Backstage: Lakers – The Backstage Interviews: Kobe,”. The half-hour special will premier at 8 pm ET.