Can you imagine the Los Angeles Lakers without Kobe Bryant? It seems almost impossible to imagine, yet, leaving Southern California was something the Black Mamba strongly considered earlier in his career.
Why? Because Kobe Bryant wanted to play alongside Michael Jordan when he was a member of the Washington Wizards according to Michael Lee.
Very few know that this seemingly laughable fantasy was nearly reality: More than a decade ago, Bryant wanted to get away from Los Angeles, and the team he wanted to join was the Wizards, where he would join forces with his mentor Michael Jordan.
Doing such would have required Kobe Bryant to ditch Shaquille O’Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers at the peak of their glory, which is probably part of the reason such a tandum never happened. But could you have imagined Bryant and Michael Jordan playing on the same team? In a way it’s almost hilarious considering they’d need about 27 balls on the court at the same time to get enough shots, but on the same hand it’s actually interesting.
It was nearly impossible to guard Bryant or Jordan by themselves, let alone both of them being on the same team.
For what it’s worth, Bryant does now admit he seriously considered the free agent move.
“That’s true,” Bryant confirmed recently. “A long time ago? Yeah.”
