Jerry West admits he could have signed Kobe Bryant to the Memphis Grizzlies in 2003
Jerry West admits he could have signed Kobe Bryant to the Memphis Grizzlies in 2003, but he said no to the late Lakers legend because he belonged in LA
- Jerry West was responsible for the day trade to bring Bryant to the Lakers
- Byrant to re-sign for the Lakers on a seven-year contract after testing free agency
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Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Jerry West admitted that he could have signed Kobe Bryant to the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2003 off-season.
Bryant briefly tested free agency before signing a seven-year, $136.4 million deal with the Lakers following the departures of head coach Phil Jackson and Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal.
‘He became a free agent, and his agent then was [current Lakers executive] Rob Pelinka. So I met them in Orange County in a hotel room and he said he wanted to come to Memphis and play basketball,” West said while on the Podcast P with Paul George show.
“I looked at him and said, ‘Are you kidding me? “You belong here somewhere [in LA]okay?” And even though he would never have played [in Memphis]I wanted to reassure him that you don’t feel you have any obligation to me or the Grizzlies to play here.”
West was the Lakers’ general manager when the team traded for Bryant’s draft rights before the 1996–97 season, which he seemingly alluded to when he said Bryant was under no obligation to continue playing for him.
Jerry West recently admitted that he could have signed Kobe Bryant to the Memphis Grizzlies
Bryant had tested free agency in 2003 before re-signing with the Los Angeles Lakers
West (L) was responsible for the day trade in which the Lakers acquired Bryant in 1996
“I think that was tampered in a way. I didn’t see it as a mess because he was at our house the whole time. He ate a lot at my house. I felt more like a father figure with him. I had a great relationship with him.’
In 2002, West was named GM of the Grizzlies, a year before Bryant’s brief free duty, which also saw him, the late Lakers star, turn down an offer from the LA Clippers worth $100 million over six years.
Bryant’s stance that he might have joined the Grizzlies may never be known, following his tragic death in a helicopter crash in 2020, but the legacy he built in LA remains one of the greatest in the history of the game.
During his career, the 18-time All-Star averaged 25 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.