WI: Kobe Bryant stayed with the Hornets

In the 1996 NBA Draft the Charlotte Hornets selected Kobe Bryant as the 13th pick of the 1st Round, but traded him to the Lakers in exchange for Vlade Divac. In hindsight, it was a very big mistake for Charlotte.

But what if they didn't trade Kobe? What if he played for the Hornets? How will this affect Kobe's career? How will this affect Hornets' history?
 
looking at that draft its interesting to see who got selected BEFORE Kobe. Although it needs to be remembered he was a High Schooler, and most of the others had some college experience.

Lets look at the top of that draft:

1. Philadelphia - Allen Iverson G
2. Toronto - Marcus Camby F-C
3. Vancouver - Shareef Abdur-Rahim F
4. Milwaukee - Stephon Marbury G (traded to Minnesota)
5. Minnesota - Ray Allen G (traded to Milwaukee)
6. Boston - Antoine Walker F
7. LA Clippers - Lorenzen Wright F-C
8. New Jersey - Kerry Kittles G
9. Dallas - Samaki Walker F
10. Indiana - Erick Dampier C
11. Golden State - Todd Fuller C
12. Cleveland - Vitali Potapenko F-C
13. Charlotte - Kobe Bryant G (traded to LA Lakers)
14. Sacramento - Peja Stojakovic F
15. Phoenix - Steve Nash G
16. Charlotte - Tony Delk G
17. Portland - Jermaine O'Neal F-C

Kobe and Jermaine O'Neal were the only 2 out of these top 17 that didn't go to college.

Kobe did threaten to refuse to report to Charlotte.

The teams that really blew it were the ones in the 7-12 range of the draft. Although, if Kobe refused to go to Charlotte, he might have refused to go the the Clippers or Nets (and Kerry Kittles was highly thought of at the time).

I think the teams that could have gotten Kobe were Boston, Dallas and Golden State. As a Lakers fan Kobe hated the Celtics, but it'd be virtually impossible to turn down the chance to play in Boston. And both Dallas and Golden State have pretty good markets for a budding young star to grow in.

I tend to think that Charlotte ought to have called Kobe's bluff. It's highly unlikely he would have actually followed through with his threat to not report to the team. If he'd started his career there, maybe the fortunes of that franchise would be totally altered. Maybe the team would have been a title contender and never moved to New Orleans.

Also, it throws into question the Lakers' rebuilding efforts of that summer, having landed Shaquille O'Neal to a massive contract, the Lakers were moving out veterans to open cap space. The Kobe deal sent Vlade Divac out of LA. Without that trade he would still need to be moved. THere was of course no emergency to land a SG because the Lakers had Eddie Jones at the time.

Interesting.
 
Interestingly, the Hornets went 54-28 in 1997 with Vlade Divac.

Assuming to trade never occurs and Kobe folds and does join the Hornets (very likely IMO) the roster would look like this:

C - Matt Geiger
F - Anthony Mason
F - Glen Rice
G - Kobe Bryant
G - Muggsy Bogues

G - Dell Curry
G - Ricky Pierce
F - Scott Burrell
G - Tony Delk
F - Malik Rose
F - Donald Royal
G - Tony Smith

They have an issue with too many wings, so its likely they'd look to trade Curry, Pierce or Burrell for another big.

It's an interesting roster, with a lot of journeymen. Maybe a 45-50 win team so long as they got another big man. Needs a lot of work to be a real title contender though.
 
I don't think Kobe would start that rookie season as like you said, there are a lot of wings on the Hornets roster and this was a time where teams were still suspect about kids coming out of High School straight to the NBA, and this was the first time a guard had ever gone straight to the NBA from HS.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but at the time picking Kobe would have been seen as extremely risky. If the Hornets keep Kobe, they probably would have traded the 17th pick and probably packaged him with Curry to get the Center they need.

Kobe could have also easily gone to the Nets if they had decided to take the chance, but instead went with the safer pick with Kittles. Kerry Kittles was actually a pretty good shooting guard, averaging about 15 points per game from 96-02 but obviously he is no Kobe as a Laker fan like myself can attest to.

As for picks 1-6, you can't fault the teams that picked those guys. Allen Iverson was MVP, and while Marcus Camby was a stretch at the number 2 pick, he was an excellent athletic defensive and rebounding center. Very underrated. Shareef Abdur Rahim was a 20ppg guy, though as the TNT crew says, 'I don't remember a single basket that he ever made'. Minnesota blew it by trading Ray Allen for Marbury; they could have paired Ray Allen with Kevin Garnett. Heck, if Minnesota had decided to take a risk and draft Kobe, they would have had two high schoolers, and how cool would a Kobe/KG tandem would have been? If you don't think those two would have gotten along together on the court, I will show you this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-6aFg_TZeg

After watching Kobe go 7-24 tonight against the lowly sixers in yet another dismal shooting performance, seeing how athletic both he and KG used to be makes me sad. Father time is undefeated.
 
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I wonder if he would have been as good with the Hornets?

A big factor in his success in OTL was landing on the LA Lakers as the same time as Shaq, where feuds aside, the two made the most dangerous pair in the NBA, especially when the Lakers brought in top notch supporting talent as they did.

Without Shaq, is Kobe as strong as he is in the early years?
 
looking at that draft its interesting to see who got selected BEFORE Kobe. Although it needs to be remembered he was a High Schooler, and most of the others had some college experience.

Lets look at the top of that draft:

1. Philadelphia - Allen Iverson G
2. Toronto - Marcus Camby F-C
3. Vancouver - Shareef Abdur-Rahim F
4. Milwaukee - Stephon Marbury G (traded to Minnesota)
5. Minnesota - Ray Allen G (traded to Milwaukee)
6. Boston - Antoine Walker F
7. LA Clippers - Lorenzen Wright F-C
8. New Jersey - Kerry Kittles G
9. Dallas - Samaki Walker F
10. Indiana - Erick Dampier C
11. Golden State - Todd Fuller C
12. Cleveland - Vitali Potapenko F-C
13. Charlotte - Kobe Bryant G (traded to LA Lakers)
14. Sacramento - Peja Stojakovic F
15. Phoenix - Steve Nash G
16. Charlotte - Tony Delk G
17. Portland - Jermaine O'Neal F-C

Kobe and Jermaine O'Neal were the only 2 out of these top 17 that didn't go to college.

Kobe did threaten to refuse to report to Charlotte.

The teams that really blew it were the ones in the 7-12 range of the draft. Although, if Kobe refused to go to Charlotte, he might have refused to go the the Clippers or Nets (and Kerry Kittles was highly thought of at the time).

I think the teams that could have gotten Kobe were Boston, Dallas and Golden State. As a Lakers fan Kobe hated the Celtics, but it'd be virtually impossible to turn down the chance to play in Boston. And both Dallas and Golden State have pretty good markets for a budding young star to grow in.

I tend to think that Charlotte ought to have called Kobe's bluff. It's highly unlikely he would have actually followed through with his threat to not report to the team. If he'd started his career there, maybe the fortunes of that franchise would be totally altered. Maybe the team would have been a title contender and never moved to New Orleans.

Also, it throws into question the Lakers' rebuilding efforts of that summer, having landed Shaquille O'Neal to a massive contract, the Lakers were moving out veterans to open cap space. The Kobe deal sent Vlade Divac out of LA. Without that trade he would still need to be moved. THere was of course no emergency to land a SG because the Lakers had Eddie Jones at the time.

Interesting.
Charlotte could have called his bluff and he would have only signed the shortest deal possible to make him a free agent and than at that point take off to the Lakers. He made it clear to everyone he wanted to play for the Lakers. So Charlotte may get some good years out of him but not a career. Probably why they traded him.
 
looking at that draft its interesting to see who got selected BEFORE Kobe. Although it needs to be remembered he was a High Schooler, and most of the others had some college experience.

Lets look at the top of that draft:

1. Philadelphia - Allen Iverson G
2. Toronto - Marcus Camby F-C
3. Vancouver - Shareef Abdur-Rahim F
4. Milwaukee - Stephon Marbury G (traded to Minnesota)
5. Minnesota - Ray Allen G (traded to Milwaukee)
6. Boston - Antoine Walker F
7. LA Clippers - Lorenzen Wright F-C
8. New Jersey - Kerry Kittles G
9. Dallas - Samaki Walker F
10. Indiana - Erick Dampier C
11. Golden State - Todd Fuller C
12. Cleveland - Vitali Potapenko F-C
13. Charlotte - Kobe Bryant G (traded to LA Lakers)
14. Sacramento - Peja Stojakovic F
15. Phoenix - Steve Nash G
16. Charlotte - Tony Delk G
17. Portland - Jermaine O'Neal F-C

Kobe and Jermaine O'Neal were the only 2 out of these top 17 that didn't go to college.

Kobe did threaten to refuse to report to Charlotte.

The teams that really blew it were the ones in the 7-12 range of the draft. Although, if Kobe refused to go to Charlotte, he might have refused to go the the Clippers or Nets (and Kerry Kittles was highly thought of at the time).

I think the teams that could have gotten Kobe were Boston, Dallas and Golden State. As a Lakers fan Kobe hated the Celtics, but it'd be virtually impossible to turn down the chance to play in Boston. And both Dallas and Golden State have pretty good markets for a budding young star to grow in.

I tend to think that Charlotte ought to have called Kobe's bluff. It's highly unlikely he would have actually followed through with his threat to not report to the team. If he'd started his career there, maybe the fortunes of that franchise would be totally altered. Maybe the team would have been a title contender and never moved to New Orleans.

Also, it throws into question the Lakers' rebuilding efforts of that summer, having landed Shaquille O'Neal to a massive contract, the Lakers were moving out veterans to open cap space. The Kobe deal sent Vlade Divac out of LA. Without that trade he would still need to be moved. THere was of course no emergency to land a SG because the Lakers had Eddie Jones at the time.

Interesting.
The biggest BS part of this draft was that unlike previous expansion franchises Toronto and Vancouver were explicitly prevented from getting the #1 pick.

The Raptors won the 1996 lottery and Iverson should have been a Raptor.

That is actually a fascinating NBA what if that would be good for an interesting timeline.

Its not impossible (though somewhat improbable) that you get an Iverson-Vince-McGrady perimeter in Toronto.
 
The biggest BS part of this draft was that unlike previous expansion franchises Toronto and Vancouver were explicitly prevented from getting the #1 pick.

The Raptors won the 1996 lottery and Iverson should have been a Raptor.

That is actually a fascinating NBA what if that would be good for an interesting timeline.

Its not impossible (though somewhat improbable) that you get an Iverson-Vince-McGrady perimeter in Toronto.

I'm not sure they would have taken Iverson because they already had a small guard in Damon Stoudemire, who don't forget was the Rookie of the Year of 95-96. They probably would have still taken the best big man available to pair up with Stoudemire, and that happened to be Marcus Camby.
 
I'm not sure they would have taken Iverson because they already had a small guard in Damon Stoudemire, who don't forget was the Rookie of the Year of 95-96. They probably would have still taken the best big man available to pair up with Stoudemire, and that happened to be Marcus Camby.

I tend to agree with that.
 
I'm not sure they would have taken Iverson because they already had a small guard in Damon Stoudemire, who don't forget was the Rookie of the Year of 95-96. They probably would have still taken the best big man available to pair up with Stoudemire, and that happened to be Marcus Camby.

I don't think so, Iverson was by far the highest regarded player in that draft. Iverson was an incredible college player. At the very least they would have traded the pick.
 
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