How many championship banners would be hanging in the American Airlines Center rafters had the Mavericks traded for Kobe Bryant in 2007?

That may seem like a far-fetched idea but Mavs owner Mark Cuban said Tuesday morning that it was almost a reality in the summer of 2007.

“When I was doing Dancing with the Stars, I was taking breaks because I was talking to Kobe’s agent because Kobe wanted to get traded,” Cuban explained on the Ben and Skin Show on 103.3 [KESN-FM]. “Literally, between Dancing with the Stars practices I had thought we traded for Kobe Bryant. I even talked to their owner and thought we were going to have done deal, and [Lakers GM] Mitch Kupchak changed [Kobe’s] mind and brought him back.”

via Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News