Kobe Bryant is widely regarded as one of the best players to play in the NBA. In addition to that, due to the fact that he spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers, he is considered one of the most loyal players in the history of the league.
While the part about Bryant being loyal to the Lakers is almost true, there was a year when the Black Mamba made up his mind to leave the franchise. Yes, we are talking about 2007, when Kobe demanded a trade from the Lakers.
At the time, Kobe was coming off an amazing 2006-07 NBA season, but the Lakers finished with a record of 42-40 and were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. As a result, Kobe was almost traded to the Chicago Bulls.
But the trade talks ultimately broke down, and he stayed with the Lakers. Despite that, he made it absolutely clear that the Lakers needed to add more quality players around him. This resulted in Bryant wanting the Lakers to trade the then 19-year-old Andrew Bynum for the then 34-year-old Jason Kidd.
Kobe Openly Called Out The Los Angeles Lakers
While the Lakers respected Kobe’s opinion and he had a big voice in the franchise, the team still didn’t want to trade Bynum. This led to Kobe openly criticizing the iconic NBA franchise.
“Are you f*****g kidding me? They gotta ship his a** up, we’re talking about Jason Kidd.”
An NBA fan on Reddit recently brought this old video to fans’ attention. He also showed the Lakers’ decision to keep Bynum didn’t pay off in hindsight.
Bynum would have a few moments where he looked like a star player, but Kidd was obviously a better player than him, even in his mid-thirties. Although the Lakers won two NBA Championships with Bynum, the franchise probably would have won at least one more ring if they had traded for Kidd.
