Is there any truth to this?

[Celtsfan1980]

According to Kobe Bryant's wikipedia page, he made it known before the draft that he would only play for the Lakers. I had never heard about this. My brother(a Lakers fan) has claimed it's false, but hasn't given any reason for that. The site doesn't have the best reputation, but they do give a source for the statement. Is it true?

[Serpo]

[Serpo]

Everbody knew before the Draft Bryant was going to be great . Problem is there was just a small numbers of team he was willing to play for . He would have gone to college or europe if the "wrong" team would've drafted him . ( at least he threatened to do so )

Most of the teams weren't willing to risk to pick him so he dropped so far.

[HarlemHeat37]

..

[Malinhion]

Yeah, this is true. I've heard the story several times over the years. The Grizzlies (IIRC, whoever had pick 19) drafted him with the intent to trade.

[Celtsfan1980]

Everbody knew before the Draft Bryant was going to be great . Problem is there was just a small numbers of team he was willing to play for . He would have gone to college or europe if the "wrong" team would've drafted him . ( at least he threatened to do so )

Most of the teams weren't willing to risk to pick him so he dropped so far.

That sounds a little contradicting to me. If he made that statement, then of course they're not going to draft him. No player should have the right to choose which team they play for as popular big market teams are the ones who usually benefit, so the NBA should never have allowed this.

Even with Magic Johnson, the Lakers had a mediocre free agent leave and really should have had no rights to Magic. He should have played with the Jazz. The Jabaar trade was completely lopsided, Mikan was pretty much given to them, and Shaq was through free agency. The Lakers have done a lot for basketball so I want to respect them for it, but when your team has been handed basically their entire history, there's just no way I can respect them.

[Serpo]

Was the Hornets at 13 then traded him for Vlade . The Hornets knew he wasn't going to play for them just drafted him to get something from the Lakers.

[That Nicka]

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That sounds a little contradicting to me. If he made that statement, then of course they're not going to draft him. No player should have the right to choose which team they play for as popular big market teams are the ones who usually benefit, so the NBA should never have allowed this.

Even with Magic Johnson, the Lakers had a mediocre free agent leave and really should have had no rights to Magic. He should have played with the Jazz. The Jabaar trade was completely lopsided, Mikan was pretty much given to them, and Shaq was through free agency. The Lakers have done a lot for basketball so I want to respect them for it, but when your team has been handed basically their entire history, there's just no way I can respect them.

[That Nicka]

Steve Francis did the same thing... He was drafted by the Grizzlies and told them he would not report to Vancouver so they might as well trade him to another team

[Serpo]

Well that doesn't make it right .

[War3player]

This is true - regarding Bryant only wanting to play in a big market (LA). It's sad how some people justify this because of how good of a player he has become.

[Luv those Knicks]

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You can post sarcastic smileys at him all you want, but it's absolutely true about Magic. Lakers were lucky to get that pick and in large part because of the Lakers, the Rules were changed a year or two later.

as far as Shaq & Kobe choosing the Lakers, that's part of the game. Players like big market teams. At some point, that same logic might support my knicks, though it hasn't worked yet.


- - -


anyway, on Kobe


To say people knew he was going to be a star is a reach. Kobe was the guy the Lakers wanted, he played highschool ball in Europe and he was a relative unknown and there was that high school stigma - back then, highschool draftees were still quite rare. In fact, I remember even during Kobe's rookie season he got some critisism which might have been unfair given how young he was.

That being said, the Lakers wanted Kobe, Kobe wanted the Lakers, the Vlade for #13 trade talk was public knowledge weeks before the draft and you've got the quote from his agent above (2nd post in this thread).



Had Kobe been a regular draftee, there is a chance he would have fallen to 13, or maybe a team would have taken him, starting around #9. He wasn't a concensus top 3 pick back then. Not even close. Though it was a stronger than average draft.

[magicfan4life05]

can anyone elaborate on the situation with magic and the lakers?

[W_HAMILTON]

Yes, it's true. He only wanted to play for a select few teams, and his "people" made it known that he would not play for any other teams if they drafted him. It didn't hurt the Hornets so much, because they only drafted him to trade him. But it did hurt a team like NJ, who was interested in Kobe, and was told a few days before the draft that Kobe would simply not play for them. There was an old article in USA Today detailing this meeting between the two sides.

NJ ended up drafting Kerry Kittles.

[W_HAMILTON]

For added proof, watch the '96 draft again and look at Kobe's demeanor the whole time. I believe he was interviewed by Craig Sager, and he looked like someone just told him his puppy died through the whole interview.

Of course, Kobe has since been asked about it, and says he would have played anywhere, because it was such a privilege to play in the NBA...and of course, he's lying.

[Basketball Fan]

Yeah its true at least his father made sure of it. Although I always wondered how much clout could a son of a journeyman player have? Straight out of high school? I mean there was a lot of controversy for him going pro to begin with.


The odds of him being where he is now are slim. I mean for all anyone knew he could have been the next Kwame Brown.

That being said I'm not bothered by it, its his career and as far as fans and owners are concerned you are only as good as your last game. Why shouldn't the players get the best option for them. Nobody else cares enough.

[Basketball Fan]

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That sounds a little contradicting to me. If he made that statement, then of course they're not going to draft him. No player should have the right to choose which team they play for as popular big market teams are the ones who usually benefit, so the NBA should never have allowed this.

Even with Magic Johnson, the Lakers had a mediocre free agent leave and really should have had no rights to Magic. He should have played with the Jazz. The Jabaar trade was completely lopsided, Mikan was pretty much given to them, and Shaq was through free agency. The Lakers have done a lot for basketball so I want to respect them for it, but when your team has been handed basically their entire history, there's just no way I can respect them.

If it came from anyone but a Celtics fan it would actually be credible(and I'm not a fan of the Celtics or Lakers)

[W_HAMILTON]

Here's one of the articles I was talking about:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nba/02pl ... l-kobe.htm

Some tidbits:

"He was our pick. We had dinner with his parents the night before the draft and we told them he was our choice," recalled John Nash, who was New Jersey's general manager at the time.

The Nets had brought Bryant in for three workouts, and a year before that they had been hearing stories from the likes of Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Doug Overton and Tim Legler about a 16-year kid from Lower Merion H.S., who was lighting up every NBA player he was matched against in workouts at the Philadelphia Sporting Club.

The afternoon of the draft, Nash received two phone calls

[kobeaki]

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That sounds a little contradicting to me. If he made that statement, then of course they're not going to draft him. No player should have the right to choose which team they play for as popular big market teams are the ones who usually benefit, so the NBA should never have allowed this.

Even with Magic Johnson, the Lakers had a mediocre free agent leave and really should have had no rights to Magic. He should have played with the Jazz. The Jabaar trade was completely lopsided, Mikan was pretty much given to them, and Shaq was through free agency. The Lakers have done a lot for basketball so I want to respect them for it, but when your team has been handed basically their entire history, there's just no way I can respect them.

hey pot , meet kettle.

are you serious? as a "kelts" fan you're gonna cast judgement on the good fortunes of the lakers?

so kg, bird,ray allen, 9 titles in eleven years(with d-league level competition,mostly), those were all hard fought acquisitions, with absolutuely no favortism involved? and you have the naivete to bag on the lakers for it?

its weird that your handle says celts1980, cause from i am sitting it feels like you were born yesterday, sukka.

[Sedale Threatt]

can anyone elaborate on the situation with magic and the lakers?

L.A. won the right to draft first overall in the 1979 draft by winning a coin flip with Chicago. That's how the No. 1 pick was determined back then -- the last-place team in each conference flipped a coin. L.A. had the pick because the Jazz had signed Gail Goodrich.