For most of their careers, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett were rivals. Rivals that respect each other, yes, but rivals nonetheless: first when Garnett was with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and then again when he was traded to the Boston Celtics and clashed with Bryant’s Lakers in the 2008 and 2010 NBA Finals.
It didn’t have to be that way, though.In an interview with Michael Pina for GQ, Garnett revealed that he actually wanted to team up with Bryant on the Los Angeles Lakers before he forced a trade to the Celtics in 2007, so much so that he tried to orchestrate it himself:
Garnett had reservations about going to play in Boston, even after speaking to Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.