Kobe Bryant was not a happy camper when Kevin Garnett was traded to the Boston Celtics, to say the least.
In the offseason leading up to the 2007-08 NBA season, it became clear Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves were going to go their separate ways. Garnett effectively forced the T-Wolves to move him to a team of his choice, and the star forward’s wish list ultimately boiled down to the Celtics and the Lakers.
But in order to take his talents to Los Angeles, KG first needed to speak with Kobe Bryant. The only problem, as Garnett explained in his recent GQ profile, was that the Lakers superstar was in China when the former’s decision process was in crunch time.
Unable to get a hold of Bryant, Garnett greenlit the blockbuster trade to the Celtics. Bryant, as you might imagine, was none too pleased when he finally found out Garnett was trying to speak with him about potentially teaming up.
Here’s how the conversation went down, as Garnett recalls:
Bryant: “Yo, man, you was trying to get in contact with me?”
Garnett: “Man, get the (expletive) out of here.”
Bryant: “Nah. Nah, I’m serious, man. I got this (expletive) late, man. Damn, man.”
Garnett: “It’s all good.”
Bryant: “Nah, it ain’t all good. You in that wrong color, man. What the (expletive), man? How you gonna go to Boston of all places?”
Garnett: “Man, nah. You gotta chill.”
As fate would have it, the Celtics won an NBA championship over Bryant’s Lakers in Garnett’s first season in Boston. The Black Mamba went on exact revenge two seasons later when the Purple and Gold edged out the C’s in the 2010 Finals, a best-of-seven series that went the distance.
