Hey, guys, it's Jason Bateman. I'm really excited to tell you about Alternate Roots, the newest sports podcast from our friends at WNDYRI. If you're a sports fan like me, then you know there are all kinds of sliding doors scenarios and what-if moments in sports that keep fans hooked. Like, what if the Chicago Bears and not the Kansas City Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes? We could be celebrating the bears right now. More importantly, would Travis have ever have met Tay Tay? Each week on the podcast, podcast, former SportsCenter anchors Trey Wingo and Kevin Frazier, pri open the sliding doors of a different what if moment from the world of sports. I'm about to play a clip from Alternate Roots. Follow Alternate Roots on the WNDRI app or wherever you get your podcast.

Which is your first alternate route with Chris Paul playing alongside Kobe Bryant?

The easiest one to think of is that the Lakers have arguably the greatest backcourt in the history of the NBA. I mean, you have Kobe and CP3 and their intensity and leadership. I don't know if we've ever seen a situation where he had the best shooting guard, and at that point, the best point guard playing together. And because they're so dominant, let's just throw this out there, the Splash Brothers with Steph, Curry and Clay, they never get to where they are because they're going to have to go through the Lakers with Kobe and CP3.

Let me say this, okay? Having lived that moment, that Lakers team was pretty doggone good. And we forget about all the pieces that they already had that they were going to jettison. First of all, Pal Gasol, he was going to be gone. You were going to lose Lamar. So what I'm saying is that the Lakers may never win another championship with Kobe, even if they get CP3. And here's why. Because you come out of the box and you say, well, you lose Pal, you lose the reigning sixth man of the year, Lamar Odom, who handled the ball late in games. It was a big piece of that team. You are left with Andrew Bynum. What we know now in high insight is that he was playing bone on bone in those knees, so there was no way that he was going to last and hold up over 82 games to support that team as their big man. There was also a rumor that they were going to bring in Dwight Howard because they would have had enough under the salary cap to bring in another superstar. But wait a minute. This wasn't Dwight Howard, the Superman.

This was Dwight Howard, the mere mortal. And what we also know is that when Dwight finally arrived in LA, if I can quote Kobe Bryant, nothing made me appreciate Shaq more than Dwight Howard.

It is interesting, right? Because you think of it and you just look at Chris Paul's skillset, and you look at, obviously, what Kobe had been doing, and you think, Well, put those together. It's going to work. But there is an element to building a team, right? And understanding everybody's role in that team structure. And the way it worked with Kobe before the whole CP3 trade, everyone understood what they were supposed to do. And there There is an idea that if you get these two ball dominant players, and let's be honest, if you're the point guard, you're ball dominant, and if you're Kobe, you're always ball dominant. So there is an element to the idea of, okay, let's just put stars together and it's going to work. Well, no, because there has to be a deferential packing order. And how much do you think that would have been a problem for CP3 and Kobe together?

The Lakers tried the superstar route, and it didn't work when they had Shaq, Karl Malone, Gary Payton, and Kobe. What? What more do you need? It didn't work out, did it? Did you need role players. Like Ben Wallace, who they ran into. They lost to Detroit in the finals because of Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, that crew that had a bunch of role players and a couple of superstars that got them over the hub.

All right, so what's your first alternate route here then?

My first alternate route is flying in the face of what I just said, but it's okay. Follow me and rock with me, Trey, all right?

I got you. I'm with you.

Gilbert Arenas ends up being a Laker.

Agent Zero goes to LA?

Yes, because Gilbert was supposed to be a part of that Dwight Howard deal. Orlando wanted to unload a bunch of money, and Gilbert on his podcast said, Look, I was going to go along with Dwight to LA. So now you have Gilbert, you have Chris Paul, you have Kobe, and you have Dwight. Just imagine that. You have an incredible team because there was enough money under the salary cap for the Lakers to pay four superstars. And that's what annoyed Mark Cuban so much. He was like, Listen, you're going to be able to pay all these guys. They're all going to be able to play, and the Lakers will put together a super team. I'm just saying, Gilbert Arenas back home in LA, you're adding that much more firepower. It changes the balance in the Western Conference.

I guess my only question was, Gilbert, as we all know, is a loose canon, for lack of a better term, right? You think? A little bit? Would he have been okay back in LA, back around all those people that he's known forever? And I feel like it would have been really easy for to get distracted. So I guess Kobe would have had to really make sure he kept him in check, right?

And that's the big thing is like, Kobe, we saw in the second half of his career, and then later on after he played, really was a mentor to so many players.

Metta World peace.

But early on, Kobe had issues with dudes, and if he had issues with you, he gave you the Kobe death steer. I can't tell you how many nights I just sat there looking at him, looking at people that he wanted to just strangle them. That was Kobe's thing. He felt everyone should be working as hard as he's working.

He gave it to Shaq. He made sure Shaq left LA, so that totally makes sense.

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