Most NBA fans know that Kobe Bryant wasn’t actually drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers, but instead was taken by the Charlotte Hornets with the No. 13 pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. However, Kobe and the Lakers had their sights set on each other, and the Lakers agreed to give up their starting center at the time, Vlade Divac, in exchange for the Hornets selecting Kobe at their spot and then trading him to Los Angeles.
But Divac, now the general manager of the Sacramento Kings, didn’t want to leave his life in L.A. for North Carolina. After he heard the news, he almost decided to retire over playing for the Hornets. Here’s his explanation, by way of Yahoo Sports:
“I am not going to play basketball because I have to play. I am going to play for fun. I was 28. I am not going to go somewhere and be forced to play basketball. I told my agent that I am not going to Charlotte. I loved L.A. I loved the Lakers. For every kid that played basketball, it was basketball heaven being with Magic and the other guys.”
Divac claimed he was ready to hang it up for good, before an “emotional meeting” with Lakers GM Jerry West convinced him to play with the Hornets, thus allowing the deal to go through.
That decision is the only one of many that opened the door to Kobe’s legendary career in Los Angeles, and the five championships that would follow.
“Jerry called me and I flew back to L.A. and we had lunch. The trade happened [in principle], but I was holding it up. … It was a great conversation. He said, ‘Why don’t you go over there and explore and see if you like it or not?’
“Me and Jerry had a very good relationship. He was the guy who was waiting for me at the airport [after being drafted in 1989]. It was an emotional meeting for both of us. And I trust him so much. He is the best basketball mind in the world. When Jerry tells you something, you believe it.”
Divac would go on to play for only two seasons in Charlotte, as he said that he knew that once his contract ended, he would move back out west where his family was located. He did so by signing with the Kings in 1998, where he was a key piece in their early 2000s group that made several deep postseason runs.
Meanwhile, along with drafting Kobe, dealing Divac to Charlotte allowed the Lakers to have the salary cap flexibility they needed to sign a new center in the summer of 1996: Shaquille O’Neal.
The poor Hornets not only didn’t get the performance and long-term commitment they were likely hoping for out of Divac, but they also had no idea what they were giving up by letting Bryant go. All things considered, that draft day trade in 1996 has to be looked at as one of the most lopsided in NBA history.
(Yahoo)