Mark Cuban says he nearly traded for Kobe, Shaq
Mark Cuban has operated differently than most NBA owners over the previous 19 seasons, frequently trading away draft picks for high-level players, signing top free agents to max deals and almost always swinging for the fences. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but that never stops Cuban from trying.
And as it turns out, nothing is off limits for Cuban, who told “Fair Game with Kristine Leahy” on Monday that he very nearly pulled off a trade that would have landed both Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in Dallas.
Mark Cuban said @kobebryant & @SHAQ nearly got traded to the Mavs
: @FairGameonFS1 #lakeshow #lakers pic.twitter.com/oeX8YVyEpB
— ShowtimeForum (@ShowtimeForum) October 22, 2019
Cuban explained that the deal, which he believed to be done at the time, included Jason Terry, Josh Howard and multiple picks. However, before pulling the trigger, Lakers owner Jerry Buss had one final conversation with Kobe, who then decided he wanted to remain in Los Angeles.
The same could not be said for Shaq. Or so says Cuban.
“Come and get me,” Cuban recalled Shaq telling him.
Shaq never ended up in Dallas however, instead moving onto the Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics after his nine seasons in Los Angeles. Bryant, of course, retired where he began and is widely respected for it.
Still, could you imagine what Kobe, Shaq and Dirk Nowitzki could have done for the Mavericks? That would have been the most-dominating big-3 in NBA history.
