Today’s era of the NBA is one where change is constant. Looking out for their own good and keeping pace with the moving times, many stars have switched teams after only a few seasons without much success. Despite this, there have been a few players who have remained loyal to the ones who gave them their beginning. Names like Stephen Curry and Kobe Bryant are synonymous with loyalty. However, a recent claim revealed how the Black Mamba almost switched teams in the midst of his peak.

When stars like LeBron James and Kevin Durant started switching teams regularly, others were always going to follow. While some may be looking to get better odds at the championship, others are looking for an increase in pay that they wouldn’t get from their current franchise.

NBA Veterans discuss loyal players, including Kobe Bryant

Gilbert Arenas recently held a discussion along with NBA Veterans Brandon Jennings, Rashad McCants, and Josiah Johnson, son of Marques Johnson. During the same, a tweet from Giannis Antetokounmpo was shared with the rest of the Arena crew. It featured the player sending a folded hands emoji after a post by another Twitter page called him and Golden State Warriors Legend Stephen Curry “the last two remaining loyal players in the league.”

This brought the topic of discussion towards how much player loyalty matter in the sport of basketball. Arenas claimed that team switches are not a ‘player thing’ but an ‘organization thing’. If the organization feels that you aren’t valuable, they will trade you for someone else. Furthermore, he claimed that if a player was part of a team that won championships, then they wouldn’t want to leave them.

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“Kobe didn’t wanna leave Los Angeles. Shaq didn’t wanna leave Los Angeles,” said Arenas. Just as Arenas said the words, Jennings said that the late Kobe Bryant was really close to leaving the Los Angeles Lakers. While Arenas claimed that it was Chicago who Bryant was leaning towards, Jennings kept on insisting it was the Detroit Pistons.

“Kobe was 24 hours to being a piston,” said Jennings. According to the 33-year-old, Kobe was in talks to be acquired in order to form a viable team. During his 20-year career with the NBA, the Black Mamba was the target of two attempts made by the Pistons. In 2007, the then 29-year-old Bryant, upset over not being surrounded by a championship-level team, demanded a trade.

The Lakers reached a deal to trade Bryant to the Pistons. In exchange, the Lakers would get Rip Hamilton, Amir Johnson, Tayshaun Prince, and a first-round pick. During a 2015 interview, Kobe confirmed that the deal was made but he used his no-trade clause to kill it.

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To this date, the debacle remains one of the biggest “what if” in NBA history. What are your thoughts on Jennings’ take? Let us know in the comments below.