Kobe Bryant didn’t shy away from Michael Jordan comparisons. In fact, he almost joined the Bulls — twice. (2024)

Kobe Bryant spent his entire 20-year career with the Lakers and became as synonymous with the franchise as purple and gold.

As a free agent in the summer of 2004, however, Bryant’s relationship with the Lakers was being tested. The Lakers dynasty had reached its end. Phil Jackson was out as head coach. Bryant’s feud with Shaquille O’Neal had reached a breaking point. And Bryant’s reputation had taken a hit after he was arrested and charged with felony sexual assault in 2003. The accuser later asked prosecutors to drop the charges, and Bryant settled a civil suit with the woman out of court.

That July, Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and then-general manager John Paxson flew to Newport Beach, Calif., for a meeting with Bryant and his agent, Rob Pelinka, now Lakers president of basketball operations, to make their pitch to Bryant.

How close were the Bulls to luring Bryant to Chicago?

“We were looking at houses, we were looking at schools,” Bryant told the Tribune in December 2004. “We already were talking about a sign-and-trade.” He reiterated those words to O’Neal years later in an interview for NBA on TNT.

The trade eventually was called off after Shaq requested a trade and was shipped to Miami. The Bulls never were successful in acquiring Bryant, but Paxson, now Bulls vice president of basketball operations, always remembered the meeting fondly, especially in the aftermath of the helicopter crash that killed Bryant and eight others Sunday.

“We were fortunate that we were given that opportunity,” Paxson said. “I could tell he had an enormous amount of respect for Jerry Reinsdorf, Jerry’s relationship with Michael (Jordan) and the brand that the Bulls are. The things that always stand out to me after that were, first of all, how smart of a person — we knew how smart of a player he is — and how mature he was even at that time.”

Bryant was the among the first wave of players labeled “the next Michael Jordan” and perhaps the one who carried the mantle best. Bryant modeled his game after Jordan’s, and it was easy to spot the influence. Bryant would go on to inspire the generation of players in the current NBA.

And, according to Paxson, Bryant never was shy about welcoming the comparison to Jordan.

“It was six years after Michael left, most guys didn’t want to follow that or have to try to live up to it,” Paxson said. “What he expressed to us was he wanted to embrace that if it happened. He wanted that challenge. I’ve said this many, many times about Michael. I had an opportunity to be around him for such a long time and seeing that rare competitiveness. The closest I’ve seen — and I obviously wasn’t involved in it — but you could just tell that Kobe Bryant had that same thing.”

The Bulls reportedly tried to acquire Bryant again a few years later when he demanded a trade in 2007 and again said Chicago was his top choice. Paxson, who missed out on signing Bryant for second a time, said he never got to form much of a personal relationship with Bryant, but several people within the Bulls organization were impacted by him in some way.

And there was something about the Bulls that kept tempting Bryant, even though it was never meant to be.

“His last game here, he was coming from working out or lifting before the game,” Paxson said. “(I) caught his eye and said hello to him. He came over and gave me a hug and he remembered our meeting.”

Originally Published: Jan 28, 2020 at 4:33 pm