In an alternate universe, LeBron James would be wearing purple and gold in Wednesday’s Los Angeles Lakers-Cleveland Cavaliers matchup.
The Cavaliers star already has solidified himself as one of the best NBA players of all time at the age of 31, but if the Lakers had it their way, James would have been playing for them and Kobe Bryant would be in Cleveland. Yes, you read that correctly.
The Lakers approached the Cavs about trading Bryant for James in 2007, something that ultimately became a pipe dream, ESPN’s Bryant Windhorst reported Wednesday. The idea came at a time when Bryant was in his prime but was unhappy with the Lakers’ performance.
“At that time, the Lakers had to do something,” Bryant told ESPN’s Baxter Holmes this week. “I was just losing faith in what they were trying to do. It was like I was a meal ticket. 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 (Shaquille O’Neal). I’ve got to do it. We’ve got to do something.”
The 28-year-old Bryant averaged 32 points per game and shot 46 percent from the field during the 2006-07 season and was the NBA’s Most Valuable Player the next season. James was 22 and had just led an otherwise average Cavs team to the NBA Finals. As you can imagine, the Cavs weren’t into giving up on their young star.
But it turns out Bryant wouldn’t have wanted it anyway.
“I never would’ve approved it,” Bryant told Holmes. “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.”
So, in actuality, it doesn’t seem as though a James-Bryant swap was ever close to happening. But it’s still fun to imagine how the NBA would be if it did.
Thumbnail photo via Richard Mackson/USA TODAY Sports Images
