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Mark Cuban Reveals The Kobe Bryant Trade To Mavs In 2007 “Was Done”

You won’t find players as loyal to one team as Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki these days, as loyalty is a dying art in the world of sports. Players like Kobe, Tim Duncan, and Nowitzki likely were the last breed of NBA stars to never “jump ship” and leave when their team is not performing up to par.

The ability to remain apart of a losing team is something only the best can do; not particularly skill wise, but mentally. Players often move around the league for two reasons; to contend for a championship or for the green paper that the world revolves around.

But, loyalty goes both ways, and in today’s NBA even trying to be loyal to a team seems impossible. We’ve seen it when Isaiah Thomas, Blake Griffin and DeMar DeRozan got traded.

In case of Dirk though, there never was any doubt about him leaving Dallas, but it’s not like other teams didn’t try. A few years ago, during an interview with ESPN, Kobe Bryant talked about the time he tried to recruit Nowitzki to the Lakers, knowing he’d be rejected before even asking.

“I remember calling Dirk back when he was a free agent, I said ‘Dirk, listen, I know you’re not leaving Dallas, I get it, but I gotta make the call, what do you think?’ He says ‘Yeah man you’re right, bro, I’m a lifer like you man, we don’t leave.”

While Kobe and Dirk as teammates just wasn’t meant to happen, even though we’ve almost came close in 2007. During and interview with Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban shared the story of how he almost traded for Kobe. Cuban even thought it was done already, before Mitch Kupchak talked Kobe into staying. Just imagine a Kobe and Dirk pairing.