25 was my number in high school and college. But when I got traded to Lakers, it was retired, and Derek Fisher had 2, so I was stuck with 5. Nothing more special behind it than that.
Everyone knows my career was catapulted to another level when I got traded to the Boston Celtics.
When I got traded to the Lakers in '97, Kobe Bryant was just a rookie.
I play the same, contract or no contract, because trade-talk is part of basketball.
Kerner decided to trade my rights to the Chicago Stags, which sounded better to me than Tri-Cities, but the Stags folded up almost immediately.
The Rockets paid a healthy price for Chris Paul.
I didn't like it in the beginning, but later on, if I was in Jerry West's shoes, I would do the same thing. I would trade myself for Kobe, no-brainer.
I was seriously thinking about having a very short basketball career before the trade because of all the losing that I experienced with the Warriors, and being blamed for the Warriors demise.
