Nowadays, NBA stars switch teams as often as they change shirts, and opinions on it will vary depending on who you ask. But things weren't always like this for the NBA and there was a point in time when it was rare for a top star to don a new jersey.
The summer of 2007 was one of those rare opportunities for Kevin Garnett, who was deciding on his next destination after 12 years in Minnesota. He ended up joining the Celtics, of course, but Garnett says things could have turned out very differently. According to his own testimony, KG tried to hit up Kobe that year so they can try playing together, but he never heard back and ended up choosing the Celtics instead.
"Chauncey and Ty-Lue were showing me like, 'yo this is your chance to get with somebody. You can get with somebody real.' So I shot at Kobe, but he didn't pick the line up. Ty Lue and Kobe close so he said, 'shoot at him again and see what he on.' So I shot at him and he didn't hit back, so I had to make a decision... and Danny Ainge sold me on the vision."
KG and Kobe would have been a duo for the ages. Between KG's dominant interior attack and Kobe's otherworldly shotmaking ability, the two would have been unstoppable together. Let's not forget about their similarly competitive mentality, which is enough to put fear in any opponent.
Sadly, Bryant was busy overseas that summer, so he had no clue that KG was reaching out about a potential partnership. Funny enough, they'd actually go on to face each other in two of the next three Finals.
We'll never know how a Bryant/Garnett duo would look in real life, but KGhimself has imagined going to battle with Bryant many times. And despite KG's alpha dog personality, he believes he could have thrived as a co-star with Kobe.
"I played a great Robin when I had to," said Garnett. "But in my own life, I'm an alpha, I'm a king, I run my own stuff. I don't mind being able to step to the side and let someone be great also. Absolutely we could co-exist. If he could play with Shaq he could play with me."
Had things worked out a little differently, it's possible that KG would have joined the Lakers instead to spend the rest of his career winning championships with Kobe. Instead, the only thing he can do now is to try and imagine what such a partnership would look like.
