Kevin Garnett reveals he almost teamed up with Kobe Bryant

It’s not a secret that Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics have never gotten along. The Celtics dominated the early stages of the NBA and the Lakers got back at them during the Showtime era.

It’s been a while since these teams faced off in the NBA Finals. The last two times it happened was thanks to the Celtic’s Big 3 of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. But, apparently, things could’ve been entirely different.

In a recent interview, Garnett revealed how he wanted to team up with Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles when he left the Minnesota Timberwolves. Notably, Bryant didn’t pick up the phone so he joined their lifelong rivals instead.

Kevin Garnett Wanted To Play With Kobe When He Joined The Celtics

(Transcript via Michael Pina of GQ)

“Garnett had reservations about going to play in Boston, even after speaking to Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. That’s partly because before he made a final decision, he wanted to talk with Kobe. The only problem: Bryant was touring China for Nike and, from Garnett’s point of view, couldn’t be bothered to discuss a future as teammates.

“I needed to have a conversation with him. I couldn’t talk to Phil [Jackson, then coach of the Lakers] or none of that. I’m not a phone guy, you know what I’m saying? But it’s [Kobe], you know what I’m saying? It was just kind of water under the bridge. At least it felt like that.”

The two never connected. Later that summer, Garnett ran into Antoine Walker at an event celebrating Gary Payton’s renewal of his marriage vows; the former Celtic helped convince him that Boston was where he could win. (It also helped that Ainge traded for Ray Allen on draft night.)

Garnett then launches into a story about the first time he saw Bryant after becoming a Celtic, quickly staging a one-man show in which he played both parts at two opposite volumes and temperaments.

“‘YO, MAN, YOU WAS TRYING TO GET IN CONTACT WITH ME?’ ‘Man, get the fuck outta here.’ ‘NAH, NAH, I’M SERIOUS, MAN. I GOT THIS SHIT LATE, MAN. DAMN MAN.’ ‘It’s all good.’ ‘NAH, IT AIN’T GOOD, YOU IN THAT WRONG COLOR, MAN. WHAT THE FUCK, MAN. HOW YOU GONNA GO TO BOSTON OF ALL PLACES.’ ‘Man, nah, you gotta chill.’”

Garnett then sits back. “It was all good. I always loved playing against [Kobe]. But yeah, it probably would have been a different level playing with him.”

A Kobe-Garnett pairing would’ve dominated the league nearly at will. But ironically, beating the Celtics in the NBA Finals ended up being one of the legacy-defining moments for Kobe, so it all worked out pretty well for him in the end.