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The Draft Day Decision that Changed History

 Yesterday was the twenty-six year anniversary of a trade that up until last night I didn't even know happened. I mentioned it when I wrote the Baker Mayfield article a few days ago I don't know much about sports outside of Baseball and Hockey. So my knowledge of both the NBA and NFL are lacking at best, but unless you lived under a rock you've heard the name Kobe Bryant. Growing up in a sports household like I've grown up in you learn about sports without even watching. One thing I never knew was the Charlotte Hornets actually drafted Kobe Bryant. It still rings over the intercom of draft day history with the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA the Charlotte Hornets select Kobe Bryant out of Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia. Later on the announcement was the Charlotte Hornets would deal Kobe Bryant to the Los Angels Lakers for Vlade Davic. This would become one of the most lopsided trades in NBA History!! 

Check out this quote from a usatoday.com article:

"Charlotte never wanted me," Bryant said in 2015. "[Hornets coach Dave] Cowens told me he didn't want me. It wasn't a question of me even playing [in Charlotte]. It wasn't a question of me even playing [in Charlotte]. They had a couple of guards already, a couple small forwards already. So it wasn't like I would be off the bench much."

It seems like heading into the draft the Hornets were in need of a center and after seeing a number of big men come off the board they went in a different direction. A sign or in this case draft and deal isn't uncommon it happens, but not super often. For example, Eli Manning was drafted by the San Diego Chargers and had no desire to play for the Chargers. As history shows us Manning's tenure with the Chargers lasted an hour before he was dealt to the Giants for Phillip Rivers. Ironically enough this example had a historical impact on the NFL like Kobe's deal in the NBA. 




Kobe's impact on the Lakers by far outweighs the impact that one player had on any team in my generation the likes of which the sport world hadn't seen since Michael Jordan with the Bulls. One player doesn't win championships though and Kobe had some amazing teammates most noteably the free agent brought in that offseason. For this we look to a cbssports.com article: 
"The Lakers, of course, loved this. They felt like they knew something everyone else didn't. West had dynastic visions of growing Bryant alongside Shaquille O'Neal, the prized free agent of that summer whom West was intent on snatching from the Orlando Magic. But in order to have the money to pay Shaq what he was clearly going to demand on the open market, the Lakers couldn't pay Bryant top dollar right away. They had to push him outside the lottery, where they would only have to pay him for that set salary slot."

One thing worth noting is at first Vlade didn't want to leave the Lakers which was a condition obviously for the Hornets to agree to the deal. Vlade was settled in as a Laker and according to the man himself a fan favorite he didn't want to leave. For more we go to another quote from the earlier referenced cbssports.com article: 
"This got a little complicated when Divac threatened to retire, rather than report to the Hornets. I asked Bass what he’d do if Divac didn’t relent and Bass said he’d keep Bryant."




"In the end, Divac loved the Lakers so much that he didn't want to ruin West's plans for the franchise. He agreed to give it a shot in Charlotte. The trade went through on July 11. Seven days later, Shaq and the Lakers inked a seven-year, $120 million contract.." Wondering what if is a part of sports and something we will speak about in the coming days once again. Kobe is by far one of the greatest basketball players of all time and his passing rocked the sports world. But the question coming out of this is imagine "Mamba" as a Hornet and not a Laker!!!!! 



Sources:
Source 1 
Source 2 

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