DETROIT – Five NBA titles, two finals MVPs, 18 All-Star Games and over 33,000 career points. That's what Kobe Bryant accomplished in his 20-year NBA career, all with the Los Angeles Lakers.
But former Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he briefly considered trading Bryant to the Pistons back in 1999.
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Jackson told RealGM.com the thought crossed his mind after the Pistons made an offer to trade Grant Hill for Bryant.
It started when Bryant broke his wrist in an exhibition game and missed the beginning of the season, Jackson said. When the Lakers started the season 10-1 without Kobe in the elementary stages of the triangle offense, Jackson said he approached the star about coming off the bench.
Bryant wasn't feeling it.
Jackson said Bryant told him, "I don't see myself now starting ... I don't want to be known as a bench player."
Jackson said the 20-year-old's concern for his legacy gave them an indication of what might lie ahead. He said a couple of weeks later, with Shaquille O'Neal dominating in the new offense, Bryant said he wanted to be traded. He was concerned about only averaging 19 points per game, Jackson said.
"For a few minutes, I thought about taking the Pistons up on an offer they made to trade Kobe for Grant Hill," Jackson told RealGM.com. "Make that a few seconds."
Jackson said he thought Bryant would be one of the best players in NBA history in time, so he wasn't going to trade him.
It sounds like the Pistons had a chance, but it was an extremely slight chance.
Who knows? Maybe those five championship banners would be hanging in The Palace.