Mark Cuban says the Dallas Mavericks came within a call of landing Kobe Bryant in 2007, with a proposed trade that would have sent Josh Howard, Jason Terry and two first-round draft picks to Los Angeles. Cuban said on April 7, 2026, that he believed the deal was done before the Lakers pulled Bryant back from the edge.
Cuban said he was talking with Bryant’s agent, Rob Pelinka, while the sides worked through the possibility, and that he also spoke with Lakers owner Jerry Buss. He said Buss was ready to approve the move. Then, Cuban said, Mitch Kupchak convinced Bryant to stay in Los Angeles and the deal collapsed.
“It was 2007, Kobe was ready to get out,” Cuban said, recalling the negotiations on the Club 520 Podcast. “I was on Dancing with the Stars. Google me. I didn’t win.” He said the talks happened around production breaks, when he would ask a production assistant named Elvis to find him a quiet spot so he could keep calling Pelinka.
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The exchange was one of the biggest NBA what-ifs of the era because Cuban said the Mavericks were not trying to replace Dirk Nowitzki with Bryant. They were trying to pair them. Cuban said he told the forward about the plan as it unfolded, and Nowitzki’s answer was immediate: “You can trade me. I would trade me for Kobe, too,” Cuban recalled. Cuban said he told him, “No, Dirk, the whole point is y’all two.”
The backdrop was a Lakers team in flux. Shaquille O’Neal had left in 2004, leaving Bryant to carry a roster he was frustrated with, and Bryant was reportedly open to leaving Los Angeles in 2007. Cuban’s account adds a new layer to a period that already defined how the league’s powers were shifting, with Dallas chasing another star and Los Angeles fighting to keep its own.
What made the near-deal stand out, Cuban said, was how close it got. He said, “He was ready to do it. It was like two firsts, Josh Howard, and Jason Terry for Kobe. I thought, ‘Okay, this is done.’ I told Elvis, ‘This is done.’” But the moment passed. Bryant stayed, the Mavericks moved on, and one of the most intriguing pairings in league history remained a conversation instead of a roster.
