Can somebody explain to me why Charlotte traded Kobe to LA?

[GOBB]

Kobe Bryant was the 13th pick in the draft.

Would you trade, for example, Chris Kaman for the 13th pick in this years draft right now? I wouldn't. Most people wouldn't. Kaman is a proven legit center in this league, and the 13th pick is a gamble.

That was Divac for Bryant. Understand now? They didn't know Kobe Bryant was going to become KOBE BRYANT!!

1996 draft class was much stronger than 2010. I wouldnt trade Kaman for the 13th pick in 1996, no hindsight.

[Knicksfever2010]

Kobe Bryant was the 13th pick in the draft.

Would you trade, for example, Chris Kaman for the 13th pick in this years draft right now? I wouldn't. Most people wouldn't. Kaman is a proven legit center in this league, and the 13th pick is a gamble.

That was Divac for Bryant. Understand now? They didn't know Kobe Bryant was going to become KOBE BRYANT!!

that was over 12 years ago, the landscape of the NBA has changed DRASTICALLY. not to mention nowadays alot more young players are coming straight from high school

[Showtime]

...Such uninformed posters around here.

Kobe's agent went around to the lottery teams informing them that Kobe would refuse to play with them. Kobe had already met with Jerry West, and was set to force his way to LA. The hornets worked out a deal to get Vlade and drafted Kobe as a trade asset. So the reason Kobe went to LA is because he and the lakers worked to force it to happen.

[KG215]

Hindsight is 20/20. I'm pretty sure no one knew Kobe was going to be this damn good when he got drafted out of high school. It's not like he tore up the college game for a couple of years and then "slipped" to the 13th overall pick.

I know the Hornets probably wouldn't have been in position to draft Chris Paul, but could you imagine a duo of CP3 and Kobe for the last 5 years? That would have been scary.

[kidachi]

Kobe was a young baller, they had no idea how good he was going to be..

Vlade Divac was a legit, proven center, 16/10 guy the year before he was traded.

At the time, in my opinion, it was a smart move by Charlotte and a risky one by LA. But, obviously, it paid off.

EXACTLY..

proven double double center>>>>hs sensation

LOL @ these posters talking like they know Kobe would be this good.

I guarantee.. nobody thought Kobe would be this good. NOBODY.

[Showtime]

I know the Hornets probably wouldn't have been in position to draft Chris Paul, but could you imagine a duo of CP3 and Kobe for the last 5 years? That would have been scary.

WTF are you talking about? Their drafts were almost a decade apart. I don't think Kobe would have made the hornets contenders and cost them Paul. I don't even think Kobe would have been good enough to impact the team soon enough to cost them Baron Davis.

[BFRESH44]

Ya it was well documented that Kobe fell in love with Jerry West and vice versa, and that he pretty much bitched and moaned his way to Los Angeles (thru his agent).

To me -- Guys like Kobe Bryant, Steve Francis, and Eli Manning are some of biggest marks in sports history for pulling their pre-draft antics.

Seriously, you're a young dude who's going to make millions of dollars where ever you play. Yet, you're going to try to dicate where you're drafted? Instead of being grateful for the oppritunity? Marks.

[KG215]

WTF are you talking about? Their drafts were almost a decade apart. I don't think Kobe would have made the hornets contenders and cost them Paul. I don't even think Kobe would have been good enough to impact the team soon enough to cost them Baron Davis.

So prime Kobe wouldn't have been good enough to keep the Hornets out of the lottery? Or even in position to get a top 5 pick? Kobe is a top 8-12 player of all-time. He had some pretty crappy supporting casts in that stretch where CP3 was drafted and LAL was only bad enough to get in the lottery once.

[Sarcastic]

EXACTLY..

proven double double center>>>>hs sensation

LOL @ these posters talking like they know Kobe would be this good.

I guarantee.. nobody thought Kobe would be this good. NOBODY.

Wasn't there a cover of a magazine that said something like "Michael was not this good at this young an age" or something. I could have sworn there was a magazine that said that.

[GOBB]

EXACTLY..

proven double double center>>>>hs sensation

LOL @ these posters talking like they know Kobe would be this good.

I guarantee.. nobody thought Kobe would be this good. NOBODY.

I gurantee you were still leaving brown marks in your underoos in 1996. Plenty of people expected Kobe to be this good. Where the hell do you think all the hype came from? The next MJ came from? Oh I get it. It came when L.A won the NBA Finals right? Right braniac? The buzz and hype Kobe had in HS was well documented. Dispite being an unproven talent people saw him being of the best players in the NBA. Much like they did with Lebron with the expectations placed on him and that mofo achieving damn near all of them. He just lacks the NBA title where people said he would have won it after 4years in the NBA. Plenty of people were high on Kobe Bryant out of HS. If not for him dictating where he would have gone? Dude would have been drafted much higher.

Maybe I'm the only one old enough to remember the Kobe Bryant phenomenon and everyone else gets thier stuff from articles or something. Heck I remember going to see this dude play at the Palestra (Upenn arena) when he was beasting for Lower Merion to win a state title. He absolutely owned in HS. Dude was in celeb charity games hooping it up. Went to one of those as well. Brandy was even there. Dude had mofos following him wherever he went and played. So you're wrong in thinking no one thought he would be this good today. People thought he would be the next MJ or better.

[BFRESH44]

Kobe was the prep player of the year in 1996. They were alot of good vibes about him as a prospect.

[GiveItToBurrito]

Kobe and his agent forced his way to LA.

This. If he hadn't been traded, the Hornets would have had a Rubio situation. All in all, it wasn't a horrible trade, all things considered - they did get Divac out of it. He's obviously not the player Kobe is, but a starting center for the thirteenth pick isn't that bad as it's happening. Some other thirteenth picks - Sean May, Telfair, Marcus Banks, and Brandon Rush. Kobe would have gone higher if not for his demands as far as market, but he was still an unproven guy out of high school, no one would have been surprised or disappointed if he'd wound up being a 20-5-5 guy, which is good but not that rare for a wing player.

[GiveItToBurrito]

1996 draft class was much stronger than 2010. I wouldnt trade Kaman for the 13th pick in 1996, no hindsight.

It's pretty difficult to accurately evaluate a draft before it occurs, everyone thought last year's draft would suck, but it's turned out to be above average. There was plenty of hype in 1996, but no one necessarily looked like a surefire franchise guy like a Shaq, Lebron, Duncan, or Webber (who was hyped up as a franchise player all through high school and college, even if he wound up falling a bit short).

[Bigsmoke]

I'd love to know the logic behind that decision, and who was the GM at the time.

so its stupid to trade Kobe for an All Star center but its not stupid for the 12 other teams to not draft him?

[Showtime]

So prime Kobe wouldn't have been good enough to keep the Hornets out of the lottery?

We aren't talking prime Kobe in regards to Baron Davis. Kobe was drafted in '97. They drafted Davis in '99. Kobe wasn't in his prime. And he would have played behind Curry and Rice anyway off the bench.

Now, in regards to Chris Paul, we don't know if the hornets would have been good enough. With Kobe, do they still trade Rice to LA for Eddie Jones and Campbell? And if they don't make that trade, they don't later trade Jones to Miami for Mashburn and PJ Brown. And then Baron's health issues come up, and the move to NOLA, etc etc. So, we really have no idea how good of a team they would have had around Kobe.

Or even in position to get a top 5 pick? Kobe is a top 8-12 player of all-time.

He would be a great player on a team we have no idea how good or bad would be. He very well could have been another McGrady in Orlando, struggling as a great individual talent but lacking team success.