During his 20-year tenure in the NBA, Kobe Bryant played with great players, including Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol, and the worst versions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. He was also close to joining forces with other stars, namely Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, and Gilbert Arenas.
Back in 2011, the Los Angeles Lakers had an interest in Arenas, and Kobe appeared to be ready to team up with the Washington Wizards icon. However, Arenas didn’t share that excitement and decided to botch his interview with the Purple and Gold, missing out on a big opportunity.
During a 2021 episode of his No Chill podcast, Arenas discussed his decision not to join the Lakers, saying that his ‘Agent Zero’ alter-ego was good, but bad to him, and he didn’t want to be that guy anymore. Kobe even told him he wanted Agent Zero by his side, but Arenas couldn’t give Bryant what he wanted.
“I wasn’t the player he was looking for. I wasn’t Agent Zero. I was afraid he was going to push me like that.”
“Remember, Agent Zero was a whole different person. I didn’t want to be that person because that person got me into trouble.
“What got me in trouble, was making me good too.
Gil earned a reputation in D.C., and Kobe wanted to have that guy in Los Angeles, but Arenas wasn’t that person anymore. If Agent Zero ever teamed up with Kobe, the Lakers would have been a problem for the rest of the league. After that, Gilbert just walked away from the game, making a lot of millions in the process.
Kobe would be part of one of the worst superteams ever with Steve Nash and Dwight Howard before his career went downhill. We’ll never know how this partnership would have fared, but it doesn’t look like they would have had a lot of success together.
