It has been well-documented that Kobe Bryant wanted to win a championship without Shaquille O’Neal. When Shaq was a member of the Lakers, the team won three straight titles whereas O’Neal won Finals MVP in each series. The relationship between Bryant and O’Neal grew tedious after the 2003 season, which led to O’Neal getting traded in the 2004 offseason after the Lakers fell to the Detroit Pistons.
- The Trade Details
- Kobe Bryant Said “No”
- Lakers Projected Lineup If Trade Happened
- Cavaliers Projected Lineup If Trade Happened
- The Aftermath
- Next
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Once 2006 came around, O’Neal won his fourth championship with the Miami Heat and a young, budding star in Dwyane Wade. Meanwhile, the Lakers finished their second subpar season. After the 2006-2007 season, the tension between Bryant and the Lakers was at an all-time high. It was so high that the Lakers supposedly attempted to trade for the ultimate untouchable in LeBron James.
James eventually joined the Lakers in 2018 and helped the team win a title in 2020, but imagine a life where LeBron joined the team around this time. It would have changed the complete landscape of the NBA. Here are the details for the blockbuster that never went down.
The Trade Details
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: LeBron James
Cleveland Cavaliers Receive: Kobe Bryant
When O’Neal won his fourth title, it added an extra sense of urgency for Bryant. He had to prove he could win a championship without him. The Lakers were coming off a 42-40 record and a first-round exit in the playoffs. Bryant was scoring at a high and entertaining rate, which kept fans in the stands, but Bryant felt the Lakers were using him just to fill the seats and not worry about winning a title.
“At that time, the Lakers had to do something. I was just losing faith in what they were trying to do. It was like I was a meal ticket,” Bryant told ESPN’s, Baxter Holmes. “You come out and score 40, 50 points, fill the seats, we’re going to keep the payroll at a minimum, generate revenue. It’s like, look, listen, I am not with that, dude. I have to win without Shaq. I’ve got to do it. We’ve got to do something.”
Bryant was so agitated for change that there was speculation that Bryant was looking for a trade to get out of Los Angeles. The Lakers fielded a call to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had a potential new face of the league. James was 22 years old at the time and had just led a limited team to the NBA Finals, where he averaged 25/8/8 in the team’s playoff run. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst wrote that the Cavaliers remember this deal fondly because it was the only time that a team ever reached out about trading for LeBron.
“According to multiple sources, as the Lakers went through their options, a call was placed to the Cavs,” wrote Windhorst. “The intent of the call, sources said, was clear: Would the Cavs make James available in a potential deal for Bryant. Those who worked in Cleveland’s front office remember it for one reason: It was the only time a team ever called to make an offer for James. He was considered the ultimate untouchable. Frankly, until that time, so was Bryant.”
This was a special moment in NBA history because, looking back, you are talking about the game’s two biggest stars in the last 15 years. At the time, James proved he had the talent to lead a team to the Finals even without a second superstar. He could replace Bryant, who was a face of the Lakers and league while giving the franchise a chance to compete at the highest level.
Kobe Bryant Said “No”
There was one major holdup in this deal. Bryant had a no-trade clause in his contract. At the time, the Lakers nearly traded Bryant to the Detroit Pistons, but that deal was also shot down. Bryant rejected that deal as the Pistons were not one of his approved teams. Supposedly, neither were the Cavaliers according to Holmes.
“I never would’ve approved it. Never. The trade to go to Cleveland? Never. That wasn’t one of the teams that were on my list. It was Chicago, San Antonio [or] Phoenix.”
Going to the Cavaliers would not have given Bryant a better chance to win a championship. It would have been a tough setup for Bryant given that he had two more seasons left on his contract. Without a true chance of contending, Bryant might have painted himself a villain even more, while James, who had three more years on his contract, might have seen the Lakers make moves to try and surround him with the talent to live up to the Lakers brand.
Lakers Projected Lineup If Trade Happened
PG: Derek Fisher
SG: Luke Walton
SF: LeBron James
PF: Ronny Turiaf
C: Kwame Brown
At the start of this season, the Lakers had not made a deal for Pau Gasol. That was done at the trade deadline. Imagine if the Lakers made that same move for Gasol with James on the roster. You are talking about a potential combination similar to the one that the Cavaliers made for Kevin Love. A combination of Derek Fisher running the point guard position with these two starts might have seen a similar finish in the 2008 NBA Finals.
It would have come down to if Phil Jackson remained the coach. Could James have run the triangle offense? We saw in later years when Jackson was an executive that not all players and systems work together. Bryant was able to run that offense and the combination of Bryant and Gasol was good enough to win a championship. Would it have been the same with James instead?
Cavaliers Projected Lineup If Trade Happened
PG: Daniel Gibson
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Larry Hughes
PF: Drew Gooden
C: Zydrunas Ilgauskas
This is the starting lineup assuming that Bryant would suit up for the Cavaliers. With that said, it’s interesting to think about what Bryant could have done with Ilgauskas as his starting center instead of Kwame Brown. Bryant was never a fan of Brown’s game and the two couldn’t make it work. The 2007-2008 season was the last season of Ilgauskas. Mo Williams was also acquired the following season and became an All-Star.
The real question is could Bryant find a way to make it through the Boston Celtics with this lineup. The Celtics had acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the same offseason. James only got through the Celtics when he joined the Miami Heat, so it’s hard to believe that he would have found a way to get through.
The Aftermath
Let’s run through the hypotheticals first. The Lakers attempted to make a deal with the Chicago Bulls but were unable to find an agreement because the Lakers wanted Luol Deng, but Bryant refused to go to Chicago unless Deng stayed. The Lakers and Pistons then agreed to a trade, which was believed to include Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton, but Bryant rejected the deal because Detroit was not one of his approved teams.
Eventually, Bryant stayed with the team and it worked out swimmingly for the franchise and Bryant. At the trade deadline, the Lakers acquired Pau Gaso, which started a run of making the NBA Finals three consecutive years. The Lakers lost to the Celtics in 2008 to the Big Three, but returned to the Finals in 2009 and 2010, winning both times where Bryant was named Finals MVP.
In 2009, it was believed that there was a chance that James and Bryant could have met in the NBA Finals. After watching Bryant win the regular season and Finals MVP in 2008, James won the MVP in 2009, as well as in 2010, but could not lead the team to the Finals. That 2009 playoffs were famously remembered as the Orlando Magic upsetting Cleveland before getting beat by the Lakers in the Finals.
James would do his best to lead the Cavaliers back to the Finals in 2008, 2009, and 2010, but it never happened. That led to the 2010 offseason of “The Decision” where James left for the Miami Heat to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The rest of that story is history. James would ultimately join the Lakers after the 2018 NBA Finals and help the Lakers win the 2020 championship, where he was named Finals MVP.
This trade scenario is one of the biggest “what if” scenarios. During the 2000s and 2010s, a debate of who was better among NBA fans. It might have been the biggest blockbuster trade of our lifetime. It also would have negated championships for both Bryant and James given their two situations. It might have created new history, but instead, the trade that didn’t happen worked out immensely for Bryant and the Lakers organization.
