Mark Cuban was convinced the Mavericks were trading for Kobe Bryant in 2007

Mark Cuban told members of the media today he was certain the Dallas Mavericks had acquired Kobe Bryant back in September of 2007. According to the Mavs owner, Dallas was set to send Josh Howard and Jason Terry to the Los Angeles Lakers in return for the 5-time NBA Champion.

Mark Cuban says he thought he had a deal done that would have shipped Kobe to Dallas for Josh Howard and Jason Terry in 2007.

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 13, 2016

Cuban was so confident the deal would get done he began telling members of the stage crew for Dancing With the Stars during his longer-than-expected stint as a competitor on the dancing show.

Cuban noted that the Lakers were the team to back off the deal, after a member of the L.A.'s front office talked Jerry Buss out of pulling the trigger.

Obviously the deal would have reshaped the futures of both franchises, and a pairing of Kobe and Dirk would have been terrifying for opposing teams. Kobe, of course, won his final two rings in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons, before Dirk and the Mavs won it all in 2010-11.

It's certainly fun to think about how many rings Kobe and Dirk could have won together, but on the Mamba's final day in the league, that's all we'll get to do.