Dallas Mavericks Almost Acquired Kobe Bryant in 2007

According to Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Dallas was extremely close to acquiring then-disgruntled Kobe Bryant in the summer of 2007. And the craziest part is that star forward Dirk Nowitzki wasn’t even involved in the trade talks, meaning if the deal went through, Kobe and Dirk would’ve been playing together in their primes. Imagine that. Via The Dallas Morning News: “Mark Cuban said Tuesday morning that it was almost a reality in the summer of 2007. ‘When I was doing Dancing with the Stars, I was taking breaks because I was talking to Kobe’s agent because Kobe wanted to get traded,’ Cuban explained on the Ben and Skin Show on 103.3 [KESN-FM]. ‘Literally, between Dancing with the Stars practices I had thought we traded for Kobe Bryant. I even talked to their owner and thought we were going to have done deal, and [Lakers GM] Mitch Kupchak changed [Kobe’s] mind and brought him back.’ Not sure if the Los Angeles Lakers would’ve taken Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, Devin Harris, Erick Dampier or Josh Howard in return but Cuban assures that Dirk Nowitzki was not in the deal. ‘It wasn’t Dirk for Kobe,’ Cuban said before admitting that the Lakers were smart by not letting it happen.”