Source for that? I've seen that he was on the consideration list but never that he was actually offered the role.
Apparently he said it in an interview that he turned it down. I’ll assume he was telling the truth. But maybe he embellished.
https://www.bigissue.com/interviews/yaphet-kotto-interview-james-bond-cannot-black/ You also turned down the role of Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation?
I think I made some wrong decisions in my life, man. I should have done that but I walked away. When you’re making movies, you’d tend to say no to TV. It’s like when you’re in college and someone asks you to the high school dance. You say no.
