He was the first perimeter player to go straight to the NBA, that's most likely why he slipped. He was pretty dominant in high school at all positions IIRC, I'm not sure what else he was supposed to do there. Nice quote Mamba. :] I think High School is a bit too long too, I like the European system where you become a pro at about 16 years old. Pau did something like that in Barcelona I believe (hence the number? :O).
No, that isn't why. The Nets were fully prepared to take him, but at the last minute, Kobe and his agent arrogantly announced that he would play in Italy, where he enjoyed dual citizenship, rather than play in NJ. Unlike the Bucks years later with the Yi situation, the Nets blinked. Here's a recent article that summarizes it. http://www.northjersey.com/sports/nets/OConnor_Kobe_was_almost_a_Net.html
Ah I didn't know that, but my surprise remains because should he have fallen all the way to 13 just because NJ didn't pick him? That's from your article. I know he must have looked like a stud but I figure the perimeter HS factor must have played a significant role in that as well, which is my major contention.
I don't know why the teams between New Jersey and Charlotte did not take him. Perhaps Kobe refused to work out for any of those other teams. It was pretty unusual for high school players to enter the NBA back then. It was a novelty, and I suppose that some of those teams didn't want to wait until he was ready to contribute.
also, there are much longer articles about the situation that were written in the past that I'm sure you could find. Just google "kobe" "draft" "nets" "john nash"
I remember this all to well. I was horrified that they were letting go Divac for Kobe. At the time we had Eddie Jones and Nick so I couldn't understand why we would allow our starting center to walk for a 17 year old kid. I had no idea who Kobe Bryant was. Then we get SHAQ and that trade was forgiven. Little did I know Kobe would go on to be my favorite player of his era. haha.. Im glad I aint a GM.
I don't know why teams blink when people say they don't want to go somewhere. If Kobe ever wanted to make really big money playing basketball, it was going to have to be in the NBA. Kobe would have eventually caved, and played in Charlotte.
