What If
Imagine if he never switched hats on draft day.
Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images
What if the Hornets never traded Kobe Bryant?
In the smartest move of Jerry West’s career as the Lakers’ GM, Los Angeles shipped Vlade Divac, who was entering his eighth season and averaging roughly 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists, for Charlotte’s No. 13 pick, Kobe Bryant, who was the first guard to make the leap from high school to the NBA.
The Lakers gave up a known commodity about to enter the prime stretch of his career (for most guys it’s the 7-10 season range) for a skinny kid who may or may not have had inflated stats from beating up on preppy suburban high school competition.
It ended up being one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history, right along with the Bulls getting Dennis Rodman from the Spurs for Will Purdue and having the Worm become the final piece of the puzzle for championships four through six.
L.A. wound up with three rings. Charlotte ended up moving to New Orleans because it couldn’t sell playoff tickets, then to Oklahoma City because of Hurricane Katrina and then back to New Orleans and in the meantime the Bobcats came to Charlotte. [Article]
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