Kobe Bryant was ‘convinced’ he’d play with Knicks: ‘That’s all he talked about’

Was Kobe Bryant on the verge of joining the Knicks?

Kobe wanted it to happen, according to former ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

Kobe always pondered…Wojnarowski stated on the 7PM in Brooklyn Podcast with Carmelo Anthony that he was certain he will wind up with the Knicks.

He said, “I’m going to sign with the Knicks because they’re going to amnesty me and nobody is going to claim me on waivers.”

“He loved the Lakers and he only ever wanted to be there,” Wojnarowski continued. The Garden would be the subject of his fantasies.

He only discussed that. Former Knicks star Anthony stated.

Knicks supporters, take note: Kobe almost visited New Yorkpic.twitter.com/L6g0QuZwbe

The Lakers would transfer Bryant to the Knicks in exchange for Anthony, Toney Douglas, and Jerome Jordan, according to a 2012 Bleacher Report article. Bryant would have played with JR Smith and Amar e Stoudemire in that situation, but not Melo.

According to the story, Kobe Bryant and New York are a match made in heaven.

For the first time in NBA history, the two most popular basketball teams’ fans’ favorite players would be the same! Bryant would immediately become the King of New York while also maintaining his position as the King of Los Angeles! It was added.

The story also speculated that Phil Jackson will replace Mike Woodson as coach of the Knicks as a result of the transaction.

According to the article, it is absurd to believe that Kobe Bryant would not want to play [for] Phil Jackson once more or even that there is another coach on the earth that Bryant would choose to play for over Jackson. Jackson is loved by Kobe, and the ancient Zen Master feels the same way.

I am quite certain that Phil Jackson would be prepared to sign the highest-paying coaching deal in NBA history as soon as Kobe Jackson joined the Knicks, and that James Dolan, the owner of the Knicks, would be delighted to give him the pen; eliminating the interim coach from Mike Woodson’s contract, be damned.

Naturally, Jackson was appointed president of the Knicks by owner James Dolan in 2014, when he signed a $60 million, five-year contract.

Jackson and the Knicks parted ways in 2017 after his tenure was widely considered a failure.

Before retiring in 2016, Bryant, of course, played his whole career for the Lakers.

In January 2020, the five-time NBA champion and his daughter Gianna, 13, perished in a helicopter accident in California.

Adam Zagoria works as a freelance journalist for NJ Advance Media, covering Seton Hall and college basketball in New Jersey. You may visit his website at ZAGSBLOG.com and follow him on Twitter at @AdamZagoria.

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