Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
Everyone already knew about Kobe Bryant's famous flirtations with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers.
It turns out the late Los Angeles Lakers legend also considered bolting for Memphis.
Jerry West, the former Lakers executive who drafted Bryant before leaving for the Grizzlies in 2002, said Kobe considered bolting for Memphis in 2004.
"He became a free agent, OK? And he called me and his agent then was Rob Pelinka. And so I met them in Orange County in a hotel room and he said he wanted to come to Memphis and play basketball," West said of Bryant on Paul George's Podcast P podcast. "And I looked at him, I said, 'Are you kidding me?' And he said, 'No.' And I said, 'Kobe, no, no. It's just, you belong somewhere out here.' And even though he would have never played there, I just want to reassure him that don't feel like you have any obligation with me or the Grizzlies to play here. Because he would have never played there; it wasn't gonna happen."
Bryant, whose relationship with co-star Shaquille O'Neal and coach Phil Jackson had fractured by the time he hit free agency in 2004, also considered leaving for the crosstown Clippers. The Lakers were able to mend fences with Bryant as Jackson (a brief retirement) and O'Neal (a trade to Miami) both bolted Los Angeles in one of the most famous breakups of a dynasty in league history.
At the time, Bryant was also in the midst of a criminal sexual assault case in Colorado that would later be dropped. West said the case, along with the Lakers' tumultuous 2003-04 season, led to Bryant having trust issues and leaning on him as a confidante at times despite West being employed by another organization.
When Bryant re-signed with the Lakers in July 2004, he credited West's counsel for helping him make a decision.
"He tried to help me as best as he could," Bryant told reporters at the time. "He's always been a great mentor to me. Jerry said it's his feeling I should be a Laker for life."
Bryant would ultimately go on to play 20 seasons, all with the Lakers, before retiring in 2016. He died in a January 2020 helicopter crash at age 41.
