Kobe Bryant will forever go down as one of the greatest players ever and arguably the best to ever suit up for the Los Angeles Lakers. But not even the Black Mamba had the power with the front office that LeBron James does.

The King definitely played a big part in getting Anthony Davis to LA. He was also the main catalyst behind the Russell Westbrook blockbuster last summer, even though it's turned into a nightmare for the Lakers. The cold hard truth is Kobe wasn't able to convince the organization to make moves like LeBron does.

Via Bill Oram of The Athletic:

But for as important as Bryant was to the Lakers, sources inside the organization have long said that not even the legendary Black Mamba wielded as much power within the organization as James now has.
Bryant was never able to strong-arm the Lakers to make a move like the one James helped orchestrate for Westbrook, which has proven to be an outright disaster.

The Lakers did trade Shaquille O’Neal to placate Kobe before he hit free agency in 2004, but when he was under contract like James is now they did not always give in to his demands.

They didn’t give in to his trade demand in 2007. They brought back Phil Jackson even though his relationship with Bryant was strained. They avoided making a panicked move to marginally improve a lackluster roster and instead waited for Pau Gasol to become available.

Yes, there was a time when Kobe wanted out. But, the Lakers refused to trade him. Do you think that would happen with James? Absolutely not. There isn't a player in the NBA who holds as much power as he does.

However, his voice wasn't enough to convince the Lakers to add reinforcements at the trade deadline, which has left him visibly frustrated. It also doesn't help that Anthony Davis is now hurt again.

I guess we'll see how much of a say LeBron James really has when it comes to the offseason.