Apparently, it was only a phone call that kept Kevin Garnett away from the Lakers in 2007.
As he described to Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes in “All the Smoke” podcast, he wanted to pair up with Bryant on the Lakers but ended up going with Boston instead when Kobe never returned his calls.
(via John Karalis of Mass Live)
Garnett says the Warriors and Suns situations just weren’t right for him. He said his first choice was the Lakers, saying “I wanted to link with (Kobe Bryant),” but he says Bryant didn’t answer his call.
“I shouted at Kobe he didn’t pick the line up,” he told podcast hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. “T-Lue (Tyronn Lue) and Kobe were close and he said ‘shoot at him again and see what he on.’ So I shouted again and he didn’t get back, so I had to make a decision.”
When Danny Ainge made his pitch to KG, it pretty much sealed the deal.
“Danny Ainge flew in. He just got right to it, showed the vision,” Garnett said. “And the vision he was saying — you ever have somebody talking to you, and as they’re talking to you, you can see what they’re saying so much that you’re not even looking at him no more? Painting a picture, and that’s how he was painting it. This is Danny Ainge’s greatness, him being able to lure you in with his charming ass. Next thing you know he was finessing me.”
Of course, KG was no free agent. He had to request a trade, but he had his pick of the litter.
In the end, it came down to two high-market rivals: the Lakers and Celtics. Had Kobe Bryant picked up his phone, years of history could be changed.
Instead of Kobe battling Garnett and the Celtics, they would have teamed up — and lord only knows what would have resulted.
