Top 5 NBA superstars who asked to be traded in the 21st century

#3 Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony during his time with the Denver Nuggets.

Carmelo Anthony started his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets, where he has had some of his successful seasons in the league. He led the team to the playoffs every year he played for them. The Nuggets made it to the Conference finals in 2009, his best result so far in the postseason.

However, the Nuggets wanted to rebuild post that, which wasn't something Anthony wanted to be a part of at that stage of his career. So he requested a trade, and got traded to the New York Knicks.

He stated on a recent episode of 'All The Smoke Podcast' that he never wanted to leave the Denver Nuggets. But the franchise's stance on rebuilding led him to make the switch to New York.

#2 Kevin Garnett

Kevin Garnett got traded to the Boston Celtics in 2007.

Kevin Garnett started his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA, who drafted him #5 overall in the 1995 NBA draft. He led the team eight times to the NBA Playoffs in the 12 seasons he played with the team. Garnett made the Conference Finals in 2004, and also won his only MVP award with the team that season.

After the Timberwolves failed to make the postseason for the last three seasons of Garnett's time with the franchise, the 'Big Ticket' handed in a trade request that saw him join the Boston Celtics.

He formed one of the NBA's first modern-day super teams alongside Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, winning a championship in his first season with the C's in 2007-08.

#1 Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant during a post-game press conference.

The late great LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant never played for any other team apart from the Purple and Gold. Bryant, though, had requested a trade several times during his stint with the team.

After the LA Lakers failed to build a solid team around Kobe Bryant to win a championship, the former MVP was frustrated and wanted a move away from the club in 2007. The Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls were in the fray to acquire Bryant had an agreement materialized between all parties.

While the Lakers were willing to trade Bryant to the Pistons, the player did not want the trade; his 'no-trade clause allowed him to decline that move.

The Bulls were the team Bryant was comfortable getting traded to, but did not want Chicago to trade Luol Deng in return to the LA Lakers for him. The deal eventually collapsed, and Bryant ended up staying with the Lakers, adding two more titles to his kitty in 2009 and 2010.