I'm not sure, but off the top of my head I would have to guess that one of the players involved was Dale Davis, who at one point was a Pacer and then became a Blazer.

O'Neal is a star in the NBA, but he really got his ass handed to him at the World Championships. He really wasn't doing much in Portland, especially with Rasheed Wallace in front of him at the 4, so they needed to unload his salary.

Kobe wasn't in the World Championships because his wife had gotten pregnant and he wanted to be with her for all of the doctor's appointments and stuff.