Former Los Angeles Lakers legend and GM Jerry West relived the time he talked Kobe Bryant out of joining the Memphis Grizzlies.
In 2004, Kobe looked to join the Grizzlies, and West, who was then the GM for the franchise, told Kobe that he didn’t belong in Memphis.
“He became a free agent. Ok? And he called me and his agent then was Rob Pelinka. And so I met them in Orange County in a hotel room and he said he wanted to come to Memphis and play basketball,” West said on Podcast P with Paul George.
“And I looked at him, I said, are you kidding me? And he said no, and I said, Kobe, no, no. You know, it’s just you belong somewhere out here. And even though he would have never played there, I just want to reassure him that don’t feel like you have any obligation with me or the Grizzlies to play here and because he would have never played there, it wasn’t gonna happen.”
"I met [Kobe Bryant and Rob Pelinka] in a hotel room in Orange County… Kobe said he wanted to come to Memphis and play basketball."
Jerry West said Mamba wanted to play for the Grizzlies after becoming a free agent in 2004😯
(via @PodcastPShow)pic.twitter.com/95Zkr0TfmB
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 12, 2023
Bryant and West shared a special bond, given it was the latter who was the Lakers GM when the team drafted him in 1996. And it’s one incredible story that shaped the guard’s future as he stayed back and finished his storied NBA career with the purple and gold.
It’s also incredulous that Kobe even considered the Grizzlies. While his story of nearly inking a deal with the Chicago Bulls has been well-documented, this one from the vault is an astonishing tale.
Kobe Bryant Almost Signed With The Bulls
For those unaware, in a face-to-face interview with his former Lakers teammate, Shaquille O’Neal. Kobe revealed how he was seriously considering joining the Chicago Bulls. And this came on the back of the big man comparing the Black Mamba to his former teammate Penny Hardaway saying they were the same.
Shaq: So that was true, you were gonna go to the Bulls?
Kobe: Yeah. There was a story in ESPN, I think it was ESPN Magazine, and they asked you a question about me and Penny. And you said we were essentially the same. And I looked at that and said, uh, ‘no, we’re not.’
Shaq: But I think you took that the wrong way, because of all the misquotes and the bad stuff.
Kobe: I probably did, and I probably used it as motivation too. Saying, listen, if this is the conversation, I don’t want this conversation. When I retire, I don’t want people to say, ‘OK, he only won because of Shaq.’ As unfair as that is, Magic never won without Cap, right? Michael never won without Scottie. But here I am, getting stuck with this argument, which is not fair, yet this is the argument people will make, and I’m not OK with that. Therefore, I knew OK, I gotta go.
In hindsight, history would have been very different had Kobe played for the Bulls. But instead, he won two more championships after Shaq moved on from his decorated stint in LA.
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