Joe Dumars: At the time, Kobe is the only player that had a no-trade in his contract. So Mitch says, Look, as you know, Joe, Kobe has a no-trade, so he has to approve of this. But we’re gonna take this to him and I’m gonna take this to Dr. Buss. He did. Dr. Buss said O.K. They took it to Kobe, and Mitch told me that Kobe said, I need 24 hours or 48 hours or something to discuss this with my family. Like, Look, I need time to discuss it with my family. And I think Dr. Buss was like, No, we need an answer in the next day or whatever. And Kobe didn’t want to be forced into having to make a decision that quick. And so, Mitch said to me, Dr. Buss has given him like a day, and if he doesn’t, Dr. Buss is pulling out and he’s done. And Kobe refused to make a decision. … It was like, I need a couple days to meet my family and think about this. He didn’t make a decision in 24 hours. And Dr. Buss said, That’s it; I’m out. We tried to make a deal. You wouldn’t make a decision. We’re gonna move forward. And the trade was done. And Mitch called me and said, Joe, we’re out. Dr. Buss is saying no. He’s told Kobe, if you’re not gonna make a decision right now, we’re done trying to trade you and we’re gonna go forward. And we hang up.
