Kobe Bryant, a Celtics Legend?

It could've happened, and apparently nearly did: Here’s Why Red Auerbach And The Boston Celtics Didn’t Draft Kobe Bryant

Auerbach and Carr talked about how well Bryant shot the ball. Carr raved about Bryant’s institutional knowledge of the game. Auerbach waxed about Bryant’s size and athleticism.

“I think this kid is going to be a hell of a player,” Auerbach told Carr. “But it can go either way. He seems to be solid, but he’s a high school kid. You’ve got to make a choice based on what you need today. But I think he’s a hell of a player.”

Auerbach left the decision of whether to draft Bryant in the hands of M.L. Carr. Had the Celtics kept their ninth pick, perhaps they would have been more amenable to taking the straight-out-of-high-school Bryant. But they traded up to snag the sixth pick, determined to take one of the so-called “super six:” Antoine Walker, Ray Allen, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Marcus Camby, Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury.

As the article notes, hindsight is 20-20, and while there had been some noteworthy success stories as far as players who skipped college - Moses Malone, Shawn Kemp, and Kevin Garnett was looking pretty promising, having made the jump a year before Kobe - teams were a few years away from really getting on board with the idea of taking chances on them with high draft picks. Antoine Walker was obviously a highly touted prospect, and these days is probably made out to be worse than he really was, though he obviously wasn't a franchise player and there's no way you'd take him ahead of Kobe today.

There's also the behind the scenes politics and posturing that we're not always aware of at the time. The articles notes that twelve teams would surely have liked a redo of the 1996 Draft, and Kobe himself has made fun of the Nets for passing on him. However, that's a bit rich, considering how Kobe's camp were pretty adamant about him not playing for the Nets, effectively persuading them to steer clear of him. With Kobe having an affinity for the Lakers even before they drafted him - well, had Charlotte draft him, and then traded Vlade Divac for him - would he have been eager to play 20 years in Boston, and carve out a legacy as a Celtics great? And would he still have five rings now?

One thing I hate more than draftee refusing to play for certain teams is handpicking their destinations narrowly to couple big market teams.

I will understand Yi Jianlian because girlfriend is a serious issue. But I'd put Kobe in infamous Steve Francis bin.

Tell me people today would refuse to play for the sixers? Everybody has their preferences.

Was Rick pitino the coach of Boston yet? I remember he was trying to reassemble his Kentucky team there

Elephant in the room: Every damn kid's preference is Hollywood over Detroit in ruins.

It's not preference. It's arrogance, 18-20 yo kid pushing to dictate lottery process

this makes me sad


also if Red told you something like this my opinion is that its generally best to listen


i dont think kobe would of had any issue playing in boston. he loves the game and that place can win people over with their history. does he win 5 rings? maybe not but he could of easily won it all with them.

the question i would ask is does anyone think he would be as good as he was if he never was coached by phil jackson. i mean yes he is still great and a hall of fame talent but does he climb as high as he did without those years?

5 rings with Celtics? No. Celtics didn't have Shaq when Kobe joined the league. They were awful unlike the Lakers that had great pieces to go about for the next decade even without Kobe. And Shaq era Kobe was kinda detrimental to the team as record depicts, their winning % was better when he was sitting out. And Shaq would have stayed in LA if it wasn't for Kobe so LAL probably would have snatched rings in bunch whether or not they had Kobe.

Kobe led Celtics? I am not sure if they would have gotten a ring at all unless series of right picks/moves were made like in post-Shaq era in LA. Early Celtics would struggle against other Eastern giants as did Antoine and Pierce. Then you'd face Detroit era in mid 2000 followed by LBJ era near the end. Kobe would have struggled to stay in thick of things with his rightful peers, Wade, VC, T-Mac, Iverson. He'd have a multiple scoring title though.

Was Rick pitino the coach of Boston yet? I remember he was trying to reassemble his Kentucky team there

Not yet, he signed on the following season.