Jerry West – "I've never really mentioned this to anyone. He was gonna come and sign with the Clippers and I told him Kobe, under no circumstances can you do this… I said Kobe, you can't go play with the Clippers, you can't play for that owner, period."https://t.co/ODNA4ZhF5E
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 29, 2020
Holy shit.
Let’s take a second to step back from this insane thought. “The Logo” Jerry West crying may be the saddest thing in the world. When he says, “I don’t think I’m ever going to get over this.” That felt like a punch to the gut.
Imagine if Kobe Bryant actually became a Clipper in 2004. Just imagine the amount of history that would’ve been erased. Does Kobe win titles with Chris Paul? There’s no Lob City or David Stern CP3 trade block. Does Pau Gasol rock red & blue? Blake Griffin for sure doesn’t start his career on the Clippers. We never get the now legendary SI cover of Nash & Dwight in Lakers jerseys. Kobe probably becomes public enemy number one for Lakers fans. Or maybe his legacy is never what it is today. This is crazy how many different avenues of the league this could’ve effected. Thank god “The Logo” stepped in and was honest with Kobe. Thank god Kobe respected him so much to do so. Donald Sterling was the worst owner in NBA history and never deserved to ever have someone so prolific like Kobe play for his team. He was a racist scumbag that historically treated his team like he treated his tenants – like a slumlord. I can’t believe the red headed step-child of LA almost had Kobe. It was terrifyingly close.
