Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant did not even think of teaming up with a rival.

While Kobe Bryant stayed with the Los Angeles Lakers all his professional career, their relationship wasn’t always smooth. At the peak of Bryant’s feud with Shaquille O’Neal, the shooting guard sought teams to accommodate him.

The portrait of Kobe as a free-agent

During this process, the legendary guard’s focus was to find an organization that shared his principles and goal to win as many titles as possible. He had no desire to play with another superstar, nor were other players trying to lure Bryant in.

“See, when I was coming up on free agency, that was before all of this super-team stuff, so that wasn’t even a thought-process that any of us players had,” Kobe said in 2018, per Hoops Hype.

“It was just about looking at the organizations that were expressing interest and considering their management and then trying to make the best possible decision on where I should continue the rest of my career. That was before all of this super-team stuff, so I didn’t have anyone recruiting me,” he added.

It is surprising that no one thought of teaming up with Kobe. Maybe players were intimidated by the Mamba. Or perhaps they just had a different mindset at that time. Approaching a rival and asking to don the same jersey seemed ludicrous.

Superteam era

Analysts claim the modern superteam era began in 2008, when Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce joined forces in Boston. Their team immediately yielded an NBA Championship, prodding others to follow suit.

Perhaps the most infamous superteam was the Miami Heat, led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. It caused quite a stir, especially since LeBron was considered the best player in the world at the time. People thought he would follow in the footsteps of Kobe or Jordan, who stayed with the team that drafted him despite all the struggles.

The 2008 NBA MVP was happy for LeBron’s decision to bring his talents to South Beach. But Bryant could not help but recall that heartbreaking defeat against the Celtics in 2008. Rather than give up and pack his bags, Kobe regrouped and worked even harder.

“I’m happy for him because he seems to be happy with his decision, I’m happy for DWade for the situations that they have and Chris Bosh.”

“If you’re a real competitor, you look at that and say, ‘OK, lace ’em up. Let’s go. I don’t care how many players you have over there; we’re still going to take you down.’”

Out of all the players in NBA history, Kobe is the only player with the right to utter those words. He trusted himself and the Lakers’ organization’s devotion to winning as many titles as possible.