{"id":100320,"date":"2024-10-09T16:02:55","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T20:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=100320"},"modified":"2024-10-09T16:02:55","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T20:02:55","slug":"dallas-mavericks-were-close-to-landing-hall-of-famer-kobe-bryant-in-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/09\/dallas-mavericks-were-close-to-landing-hall-of-famer-kobe-bryant-in-2007\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Mavericks Were &#8216;Close&#8217; to Landing Hall of Famer in 2007"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On a recent episode of The Big Podcast with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/o\/onealsh01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shaquille O&#8217;Neal<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/FOZ0PCYeGvQ?si=XmbPI5grrcmHSHXQ&amp;t=3200\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouTube link<\/a>) former principal owner of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/08\/dallas-mavericks-waive-fiba-basketball-world-cup-participant-aj-lawson\/\" target=\"_self\">Dallas Mavericks<\/a> Mark Cuban spoke about the NBA GOAT debate and Hall of Famer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bryanko01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kobe Bryant<\/a>. Initially, O&#8217;Neal made it clear that he is unhappy when fans leave his former <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/09\/lakers-lebron-james-biggest-snubs-in-nba-gm-survey\/\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> teammate out of the conversation. After asking Cuban why he thinks that is, the Pittsburgh native said he was unsure. Shortly after, Cuban shifted the conversation, revealing to O&#8217;Neal that the Mavericks were &#8220;close&#8221; to trading for Bryant in 2007.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Mark Cuban reveals Kobe Bryant almost became a Dallas Maverick in 2007 \ud83d\ude33<\/p>\n<p>Could you imagine Kobe and Dirk in Dallas?<\/p>\n<p>New Big Pod episode ft. Mark Cuban is live now! Watch here: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CwteoCaglX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/CwteoCaglX<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CTpiyplGeb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/CTpiyplGeb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Big Podcast (@bigpodwithshaq) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bigpodwithshaq\/status\/1844091597295845526?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIt was literally this close, I talked to Jerry Buss and worked something out\u2026 cause Kobe had asked to leave\u2026 It was going to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/howarjo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Howard<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/terryja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jason Terry<\/a> and picks and no Dirk [Nowitzki], because I said &#8216;anybody but Dirk&#8217;\u2026 I literally thought it was done,&#8221; Cuban said. &#8220;And then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kupchmi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mitch Kupchak<\/a> obviously stepped up and said &#8216;we can&#8217;t do this,&#8221; talked Kobe out of it, and the rest is history.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Dallas Mavericks Were &#8216;Close&#8217; to Landing Hall of Famer in 2007<\/h2>\n<h3>The Dallas Mavericks and Kobe Bryant in 2007<\/h3>\n<p>In May 2007, Bryant had requested a trade from the Lakers. At the time, the Lakers had finished with a 42-40 record and lost to the Phoenix Suns in a five-game series in the first round. Just three years prior, the Lakers had traded O&#8217;Neal to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/04\/analyst-sheds-light-on-jimmy-butlers-future-with-miami-heat\/\" target=\"_self\">Miami Heat<\/a>, where he would win his fourth championship in 2006. During this time, the Lakers failed to build a good enough roster around Bryant to compete for a championship, ultimately leading to him requesting a trade.<\/p>\n<p>As for the Mavericks, despite finishing the 2006-07 campaign with a 67-15 record, they lost to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/09\/former-golden-state-warriors-champion-matt-barnes-reveals-expectations-for-team-this-season\/\" target=\"_self\">Golden State Warriors<\/a> in the first round. This was one year after they lost to the Heat in the NBA Finals. Dallas had a great team around Nowitzki. However, it was clear they were open to adding a major player like Bryant to help them win their first NBA championship at the time. They would go on to defeat the Heat in a rematch in 2011 to win their first title in franchise history.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly two decades later, more information has come to light about which teams had interest in the 2008 MVP. Most notably, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/08\/2024-25-nba-betting-preview-detroit-pistons-win-total-odds\/\" target=\"_self\">Detroit Pistons<\/a> were <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PardonMyTake\/status\/1790730225736683608\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">close to a deal<\/a> that would have landed them Bryant. In exchange, the Lakers reportedly would have received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/princta01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tayshaun Prince<\/a> and Rip Hamilton. Ultimately, nothing came of Bryant&#8217;s trade request. In February 2008, the Lakers acquired <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gasolpa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pau Gasol<\/a> from the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/01\/ja-morant-says-why-nba-should-be-scared-of-memphis-grizzlies\/\" target=\"_self\">Memphis Grizzlies<\/a>. That season, the Lakers met the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/09\/celtics-lose-valuable-trade-exceptions\/\" target=\"_self\">Boston Celtics<\/a> in the NBA Finals but lost in a six-game series. They would, however, win a championship in each of the next two seasons.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word On Kobe Bryant<\/h3>\n<p>If what Cuban said is true, it is certainly an interesting development. Bryant would eventually play the remainder of his 20-year career in Los Angeles. Imagining him in another NBA jersey is a difficult task. However, if the Mavericks had acquired Bryant in 2007, it would have caused a major domino effect around the league. The Mavericks likely would have won their first championship sooner. Furthermore, pairing Bryant and Nowitzki together, both in their prime, could have led to a Mavericks dynasty.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, it is all hypothetical at this point. Fast forward 17 years later, the Lakers and Mavericks are in interesting positions. The Mavericks are fresh off their first NBA Finals appearance in a decade. Los Angeles, on the other hand, is heading into the 2024-25 season with first-time head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/redicjj01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">JJ Redick<\/a>. Furthermore, led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Davis<\/a>, the Lakers are looking to reach the NBA Finals once again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On a recent episode of The Big Podcast with Shaquille O&#8217;Neal (YouTube link) former principal owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban spoke about the NBA GOAT debate and Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant. Initially, O&#8217;Neal made it clear that he is unhappy when fans leave his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate out of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":83933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,30,2,26,62,3,4721],"tags":[1174,2135,551],"class_list":["post-100320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-mavericks","category-featured","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-jason-terry","tag-josh-howard","tag-kobe-bryant"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}