RealGM

We all know Kobe Bryant was nasty in high school @ Lower Merion. Lottery picks generally fall under the “nasty” category especially when all an NBA team is going off of is high school games where opposing PGs are under 6 feet and barely crack 150 lbs (maybe a few HS All Star camps as well). Gotta be pretty special to warrant a look from an NBA team let alone a draft selection. In this case it was the Hornets who believed in Bryant’s ability…. but believed in Vlade Divac a bit more. Would the Hornets still be in Charlotte if Bryant hadn’t been traded to LA for Vlade? Would Kobe be anywhere near the player he is today with the same notoriety? Would he have any rings? Who knows.

This video shows Kobe torching the competition at midnight madness in ‘94 (he was drafted in ‘96) and putting up highlight after highlight. Shout out to SLAMonline editor Ryne Nelson for bringing the video to my attention and thanks to Ballin365.com for putting the vid together.

laduane1 wrote:If you did not tell me that was Kobe. We would never know. Camera man. Try the zoom a little.