With five championships throughout his Hall of Fame career, Kobe Bryant sent home more than a few All-Star talents who were hoping to win their first title. Former guard Deron Williams is one such player, who admitted on FanDuel TV’s Run it Back that his Utah Jazz were eliminated in three straight postseason stints from 2008 to 2010 due to Kobe Bryant and his Lakers.
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The 40-year-old believes that if it weren’t for the insurmountable obstacle the Lakers’ tandem of Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum posed, his Jazz would have been the NBA Champions in that stretch.
Williams also believes that the Jazz had put together a competitive squad capable of contending for a title after a rough stretch following the departures of John Stockton and Karl Malone. “I think if it wasn’t for [the Lakers] we had a chance to win a championship every year… Just couldn’t get past [Kobe],” Williams shared.
“Honestly, it was probably the big three of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom. The length and the height that they had, just made it tough for us,” he added.
“If it wasn’t for (Kobe Bryant and the Lakers) we had a chance to win a championship every year.”@DeronWilliams remembers facing Kobe in the playoffs and the relationship they shared
https://t.co/K8K162bqMn@MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 | @ChandlerParsons pic.twitter.com/qVpyQO8ZMw
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) December 16, 2024
Utah returned to the postseason during the 2006-07 season for the first time since Stockton’s retirement in 2003, making an impressive run to the Western Conference Finals. That would prove to be the farthest Williams and legendary head coach Jerry Sloan would be able to lead this retooled Jazz roster, as Kobe’s Lakers were right around on the corner waiting to spoil the party.
The Lakers boasted a deep big-man rotation that included two skilled veterans and an up-and-coming center, which created matchup problems for a Jazz squad that couldn’t match the Lakers’ physicality. The Lakers defeated the Jazz in the 2008 and 2010 Western Conference Semifinals. In 2009, the Jazz had the misfortune to face the LA side in the first round.
Deron Williams tried to win elsewhere after disheartening defeats in Utah
Williams left Utah while still in his prime but wasn’t part of a team nearly as talented as the mid-2000s Jazz until he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers during the twilight of his career. After failing to contend with the Brooklyn Nets or Dallas Mavericks, Williams viewed the Cavs, who were coming off the franchise’s first championship in 2016, as the best opportunity win a ring of his own.
Then 32 years old, Williams clearly didn’t have much left in the tank to contribute to Cleveland. He averaged just 7.5 points and 3.6 assists over 24 games as a backup to Kyrie Irving. Unfortunately for Williams, his coveted NBA championship wouldn’t come during his lone season in Cleveland as the team again fell to the Golden State Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals.
