NBA Lakers Rumors 2012: Kobe Bryant Almost a...

With NBA Lakers rumors in 2012 centering mostly on their big acquisitions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, a new piece of news has hit the internet. It appears Kobe Bryant was nearly a member of the Dallas Mavericks as of just a few years ago, according to Mavs owner Mark Cuban.

The report from Fox Sports Southwest indicates that Kobe almost went to the Mavs in a 2007 deal. Cuban was apparently discussing deals when he was taking breaks from his stint on "Dancing With the Stars." Those deals involved the Dallas owner speaking with Kobe's agent. Cuban said of the situation:

"Literally, between 'Dancing with the Stars' practices I had thought we traded for Kobe Bryant. I even talked to their owner (Jerry Buss) and thought we were going to have a done deal, and (Lakers general manager) Mitch Kupchak changed (Kobe's) mind and brought him back."

Cuban added that Dirk Nowitski was not on the table as part of the deal. The article notes that at the time, the Mavs had Jason Terry, Josh Howard, and Jason Kidd though, all of whom are viable trade options. In fact, several of those names no longer call Dallas their team of choice as of 2012.

Just imagine how the Mavs might have been if they had teamed up Kobe with Dirk? That's two MVPs on the same team, but that's exactly what Kobe has now, as do the Lakers. Also, the Lakers have won two championships since 2007, when the rumored deal was about to go down. The Mavericks have won a championship too. It seems that no matter where Kobe is, the success happens though, and that will likely be the case now that he's got Steve Nash and Dwight Howard in town as well.