Mark Cuban Reveals How Close Kobe Bryant Was To Joining The Mavericks

If one were to believe Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks had more failed trades for superstars than successful ones. He was always looking for the perfect star to pair with Dirk Nowitzki, but it never really happened. There sure seemed to be a lot of failed ones, and his favorite story to tell is almost trading for Kobe Bryant from the Los Angeles Lakers.

Cuban recounted the story again on the "Club 520" podcast, saying how close he got to trading for Bryant.

︀︀“It was 2007, Kobe was ready to get out. And I was on Dancing with the Stars. Google me. I didn’t win. There was a dude named Elvis who was a production assistant, right? And he was just Kobe love everything," Cuban recalled. "I’m between breaks, I’d be like, Elvis, I need a quiet spot. And I would talk to Rob Pelinka, his agent at the time, and he’s like, 'Okay, if you can get Dr. Buss to approve.' And I talk to Dr. Buss, and he was ready to do it. It was like two firsts, Josh Howard, and Jason Terry for Kobe.

"I thought, 'Okay, this is done.' I told Elvis, 'This is done.' I went to practice on my jive or whatever, and then we got a call from Rob that Mitch Kupchak, right? Had talked Kobe out of it. That close. And I was telling Dirk [Nowitzki] the whole time. He goes, 'You can trade me. I would trade me for Kobe, too.' And I’m like, 'No, Dirk, the whole point is y’all two.'”