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The Kobe Bryant vs. Michael Jordan debate has been long waged in NBA circles and will likely continue long after the former steps away from the game for good. But imagine them in the same organization. Arguably the two greatest shooting guards in NBA history sharing the same halls.

Now imagine it almost happening.

According to Michael Lee of The Washington Post, Bryant had plans of joining the Washington Wizards when he became a free agent in 2004.

“That’s true,” Bryant told Lee. “A long time ago? Yeah.”

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Jordan, of course, resumed his playing career with the Wizards from 2001 to 2003. During that time, Bryant and Jordan were in communication, with the now-Lakers legend informing His Airness he planned to join the Wizards when he became a free agent in 2004. It's unclear whether Jordan would have been playing or taking a front-office role.

The dream never came to fruition, as Jordan retired following the 2002-03 NBA season and was subsequently let go from his basketball operations position. Bryant, who would nearly sign with the rival Clippers due to ongoing internal strife with the Lakers, wound up re-signing and adding two more championships to his mantle.

Bryant told Lee those titles might have been in Washington had Jordan stayed in the organization:

We would’ve put together a great team and we would’ve won championships. Listen, man. There are not a lot of players in this league that say, ‘Come hell or high water, we’re going to get this [expletive] done.’ People can look around and joke around about winning, saying they want to win. For me, it’s a matter of life or death. It was that important to me. And if it’s that important to me, I’m going to get there.

The Wizards have won only one championship in their history and have not taken so much as a division title in more than three decades. Sitting at 30-15 coming into Monday night and looking like an Eastern Conference contender, it's unlikely Washington fans would make the trade-off right now given Bryant's injury status.

But Bryant and Jordan in the same organization? That will forever go down as one of the NBA's great what ifs.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.