How Kobe was almost a Piston

In the background, Kupchak and Pistons president Joe Dumars had been quietly hammering away on a blockbuster deal for Bryant that made as much sense for both parties as possible in a situation when a Hall of Famer demands to be traded.

According to one account from a person briefed on the timeline, Dumars was at a preseason game against the Mavericks when he got a call from Kupchak, who spoke the following words:

"We're good to go."

Another person familiar with how the deal was agreed to said Dumars actually was at home in his office when Kupchak contacted him to agree to the deal that would position the Pistons to remain atop the Eastern Conference and compete for another championship or three. The Pistons were a force at that time, beating the Lakers in the 2004 Finals and in the process of advancing to six straight conference finals.

Either way, there's consensus among those involved about what the final deal was: Rip Hamilton, Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell and two first-round picks for Bryant.

According to one of the people involved in the talks, Bryant's first choice was Chicago, where he'd try to eclipse Michael Jordan's mark of six championships in his idol's very shadow. But Detroit also was on the list, the person said, on the following conditions: Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace couldn't be included in the deal.

"Kobe had signed off on the deal," the person said. "He'd approved two teams: Chicago and Detroit, if the two Wallaces and Chauncey were still there."

Death Roe wrote:Thank God that didn't happen. SVG probably wouldn't have come here if Kobe were still slumming around.

DWags wrote:Rip played for UConn.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

Death Roe wrote:Thank God that didn't happen. SVG probably wouldn't have come here if Kobe were still slumming around.

Might have had another championship or two back then though. From there it's all butterfly effect. See: Antonio, San.