Mark Cuban shares how close Kobe Bryant came to signing with the Mavericks in 2007: "Thought it was done"
Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban explained how they missed out on LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant in 2007. At the time, the shooting guard was looking for his way out of the Lakers and Cuban wanted to pair him with his superstar, Dirk Nowitzki.
During a Wednesday appearance on Shaquille O'Neal's "The Big Podcast," Cuban recalled how he talked with Jerry Buss to get Kobe to Dallas and was convinced the trade was happening.
"Do you realize how close we were to trading for Kobe in 2007?" Cuban asked O'Neal. "I was literally this close. I talked to Jerry Buss and worked something out with Jerry because Kobe had asked to leave. Jerry said, 'Ok, if you want to leave, we'll take care of it.'
"And so I talked to him and it was going to be Josh Howard and Jason Terry and picks and no Dirk [Nowitzki], cause I said, 'Anybody but Dirk.' I remember telling this dude, 'Guess what? Kobe's going to be a Mav.' And I literally thought it was done."
He then explained how things fell apart when the then-Lakers GM stepped in.
"And then, Mitch Kupchak stepped up and said, 'We can't do this.' Talked Kobe out of it. The rest is history."
Pairing up Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki would have been madness for the Mavericks, as they would have had a player who won the 2007 NBA MVP and the guy who would take the award the following year.
Bryant and Nowitzki won championships after the trade fell apart, with the Lakers taking the 2009 and 2010 titles before Dirk did the same in 2011.
Kobe Bryant once took a big shot at Mark Cuban on Twitter
Years after they almost joined forces in Dallas, Kobe Bryant and Mark Cuban starred in a back-and-forth that is remembered by many fans to this day. This came after the NBA introduced an amnesty clause that would allow teams to release one player and clear their salary from the salary cap.
Mark Cuban suggested the Lakers should use that provision on Bryant, which didn't sit well with the extremely competitive No. 24.
Kobe showed up in Dallas on Feb. 24, 2013, extra motivated and left with 38 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, and the 103-99 win. After the game was over, he took to Twitter to send a message to Cuban.
That's one of many stories that showed how competitive Kobe Bryant was.