In 2007, Kobe Bryant was arguably the best player in the world. He averaged 31.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists. And he almost got traded.
Bryant was at the height of his unhappiness with the arrangement between he and franchise center Shaquille O’Neal with the Lakers, and was trying to force his way out.
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"At that time, the Lakers had to do something. I was just losing faith in what they were trying to do. It was like I was a meal ticket," Bryant told ESPN. "You come out and score 40, 50 points, fill the seats, we're going to keep the payroll at a minimum, generate revenue. It's like, look, listen, I am not with that, dude. I have to win without Shaq. I've got to do it. We've got to do something."
With that in mind, then-Lakers GM tried to do the unthinkable, and trade for LeBron James, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. At the time James was not the world’s best player, or the all-around dominant force he became with the Heat. But he was good enough to lead an underwhelming supporting cast in Cleveland to the NBA Finals where they were smashed to bits by the Spurs.
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James averaged 27.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and six assists that year, and shot 47.6 percent from the field, and 31.9 percent from 3-point range. He was not far off from Bryant’s level, and he was bigger, and younger. However, even if Cleveland wanted to give away the game’s next great player – and a hometown hero to boot – they wouldn’t have been able to seal the deal.
"I never would've approved it. Never. The trade to go to Cleveland? Never. That wasn't one of the teams that was on my list. It was Chicago, San Antonio [or] Phoenix,” Bryant said. The common denominator between the Bulls, Spurs and Suns was the supporting cast. All three of those teams had surrounding talent, whereas Cleveland struggled – and an argument can be made still do – to surround James with championship-caliber teammates.
Had that trade gone down, however, it would have been the biggest trade in league history.
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