Jun 17, 2013
Kobe Bryant’s return to the court in season 2013-14 will be a big talking point but his career as a Laker would not have happened if a team picking before the Hornets had drafted him.
The team that is often mentioned as the one closest to drafting Bryant in 1996 is New Jersey. There might not be a Brooklyn Nets if New Jersey had taken Bryant instead of shooting guard Kerry Kittles. Bryant’s career would certainly be different, the Lakers would have had to make different draft moves too, and the NBA today would be very different.
As a Net, Bryant would have scored a lot more. In his first two seasons with the Lakers Bryant started 7 games, as a Net it could have been 164. Kittles averaged 16.4 points per game in his rookie season, so there were shots available in New Jersey. Shaq was the first option on offense for the Lakers, Bryant would have been the first and second option for the Nets. It took seven seasons in L.A. for Bryant to have a season with an average of over 30 points per game, that might have been Bryant’s average in his third season as a Net.
Bryant would probably have fewer championships, but New Jersey did get to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 so a possible Nets team of Bryant with Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Keith Van Horn could have been a contender.
The Lakers needed to move out contracts in 1996, so Vlade Divac to Charlotte would still happen and the George Lynch and Anthony Peeler to Vancouver trade would be needed too. The Lakers were not building around the draft in 1996, they were about to build around free agent Shaquille O’Neal and needed to clear money to sign him. With Bryant a New Jersey Net, the Hornets still get Divac and send a player to the Lakers.
There are two things Jerry West got out of the 1996 NBA Draft, a prospect out of high school and a point guard from an overlooked college program. That was Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, a senior from Arkansas-Little Rock. There was another player right out of high school that was drafted in the first round that year, Jermaine O’Neal. Still available when Bryant was picked was a point guard from Santa Clara, Steve Nash. Shaquille O’Neal would play with both players later in his career, one of them could have started his NBA career with Shaq and the Lakers.
One reason why Jermaine O’Neal may not have been the pick is because the Lakers already had Elden Campbell and the thinking might be that they would not want to bring in a similar player. That logic doesn’t work because West wasn’t concerned about that, he did acquire Kobe Bryant when he already had shooting guard Eddie Jones on the roster. Maybe Nash would have been the choice, back in the day Jerry West would pass to Wilt, and Magic Johnson would pass to Kareem, so Nash to Shaq would have made sense.
The Derek Fisher selection would have still happened if Jermaine O’Neal had arrived with the earlier pick, but not if Nash was the new Laker. So if Bryant was a Net maybe Jerome “JYD” Williams would have started his career in Los Angeles as pick 24 of the Lakers, instead of pick 26 of the Pistons. Travis Knight was picked at the end of the first round by Chicago, he never played for them and would sign with the Lakers so he instead might have ended up there on draft night.
The Lakers would never have traded away Shaq, or Eddie Jones, if they didn’t have Kobe Bryant. Shaq, Robert Horry, Rick Fox, Eddie Jones and Steve Nash would have been a contending team. Surrounding O’Neal with all those outside shooters would have been effective. So give the Lakers a few titles without Bryant being there, but without trading Shaq for Odom and Butler and then trading Butler for Kwame Brown and then stealing Pau Gasol for Brown the Lakers might miss out on their more recent championships, and Miami would not have won their first one too.
Then again, after three or four seasons in New Jersey maybe Bryant would have forced a trade to the Lakers. Not a lot would be different now except basketball fans could buy New Jersey Kobe Bryant throwback jerseys.
