Kobe Bryant Wanted to Join Michael Jordan, Washington Wizards in 2003

Rumors have long flown about NBA superstar Kobe Bryant wanting to join Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards more than a decade ago in 2003. Now, Bryant acknowledges that the reports were true.

"That's true," Bryant told The Washington Post. "A long time ago? Yeah."

The timeframe is pretty solid. Bryant, set to become a free agent in 2004, wanted to join Jordan in D.C., but those plans were nixed when Wizards ownership axed Jordan in 2003.

The two had a rivalrous bond almost immediately when Bryant entered the league in the late 1990s.

"When I first came into the league, Michael was terrifying to everybody," he said. "Everybody was really afraid of the guy. Like really, deathly afraid of him. I never really understood that, and I was the one that was willing to challenge and learn from him and wasn't afraid to call him and ask him questions. He was really open and spoke to me a lot and helped me a lot."

Bryant said there was extra incentive for him to stay in Los Angeles after Shaquille O'Neal left, anyway.

"The challenge had been thrown down upon me, of not being able to win without Shaq," Bryant said. "A public challenge never really bothered me too much, but he made a couple of comments as well. I think he called me Penny Hardaway Part 2 or something like that. So that's what [ticked] me off.

"Then it was like, 'Listen, you know the step back that I took to help us win championships. Let's not get s**t confused. I can dominate on my own. I decided to stay here and win championships and sacrifice MVPs and scoring titles and all that stuff.' So once that was said, it was like a line in the sand now."

Wizards fans still bemoan the fact that Bryant never came to D.C., and their pain will only be magnified thanks to the acknowledgment of "What if?"

"We would've put together a great team and we would've won championships," Bryant said.

Ouch.

Bryant passed Jordan for third on the league's all-time scoring list earlier this season, according to Music Times, but he has since been placed on injured reserve with a rotator cuff tear.

This is what happens when I pass too much! #ShoulderShock thank u all for ur thoughts and prayers #team @DrinkBODYARMOR @Lakers #oneluv

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) January 23, 2015