Kobe Bryant was almost never traded to Lakers. Hornets tried to break deal, GM says
Kobe Bryant was a lot closer to remaining a Charlotte Hornet than originally thought.
Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak — who was Los Angeles Lakers’ assistant general manager in 1996 — revealed Wednesday that the Hornets had second thoughts about dealing Bryant to the Lakers to the extent the trade nearly unraveled.
“There was such excitement around the pick that Charlotte actually didn’t want to go through with the deal,” Kupchak recalled. “There was a time there, whether it was Vlade (Divac threatening to retire) or just pressure on the franchise, where the deal was actually in jeopardy.”
The Hornets drafted Bryant 13th overall in 1996, with the intention of trading his draft rights to the Lakers in return for veteran center Divac. The deal was agreed to prior to the draft, but Divac threatened to retire, rather than move to the Hornets. But according to Kupchak, that wasn’t the only thing holding up a deal, finally consummated two weeks after the draft.
“There was a strong possibility then that it might not happen,” Kupchak said.
“I think we always felt that we’d get the deal done. Certainly, history would have been a lot different, at least from a Lakers point-of-view. Kobe would have been great no matter where he was.”
Bryant went on to a Hall of Fame career. He tragically died in a helicopter accident Sunday at the age of 41, along with his daughter and seven others.
Bryant often said during his career that the Hornets cast him off in that trade. In fact, Lakers general manager Jerry West and Bryant’s then-agent, Arn Tellem, engineered Bryant’s path to Los Angeles, limiting other teams’ access to audition him.
Kupchak has a rare vantage point on a trade that had massive impact on both the Lakers and the Hornets. He was No. 2 in the Lakers basketball operation, working for West, before eventually replacing West.
“It was Jerry’s vision that we just had to get the pick (to acquire Bryant), which we didn’t have,” Kupchak recalled. “Somehow the kid was there” at No. 13.
West was enthralled with then-17 year old Bryant’s first pre-draft workout. He brought Bryant back to Southern California for a second workout that Kupchak attended.
“I think it was Michael Cooper (a Lakers veteran and top defender) who was there the second time” Bryant worked out, Kupchak recalled.
“From the moment (Bryant) picked up the basketball, and just did some individual stuff on the court, the hop in his step, his energy, his skill, his size.
“Michael Cooper was all-defense for many years and much older. But (Bryant’s) gift just jumped out at you.”
So much so that West worked with Tellem to limit Bryant’s other pre-draft workouts in hopes of him ending up a Laker. The Hornets never got to audition Bryant. In fact, then-general manager Bob Bass asked a Charlotte media member at the time for intel on what was up with Bryant dropping virtually out of sight before draft night.
Bass, who died in August of 2018, recognized Bryant’s talent, but had some concern at the time over drafting a high school player.
Tellem told the Observer last winter his only major concern was that the New Jersey Nets might draft Bryant eighth overall. Tellem, now vice chairman of the Detroit Pistons, said he looked to dissuade teams from selecting Bryant on the reasoning that Bryant’s best chance to realize his potential would be as a Laker.
“It was a calculated gamble,” Tellem said last winter. “I remember meeting with John Calipari and John Nash (Calipari was then Nets coach and Nash the GM), pressing them not to take him if he fell. I left not knowing if they would pass. I thought they would pass, but didn’t know.
“Coach Cal was the one who felt it wasn’t worth the gamble (based on) what I had communicated and maybe he was a little uncertain” about building around a high school player.
The Nets instead drafted Villanova’s Kerry Kittles.
Meanwhile, West worked at acquiring a pick that would get Bryant, approaching Bass in the days leading up to that draft. The Hornets needed a center; Divac relented on the retirement threat and played for the Hornets two seasons. Bryant played all of his 20 years with the Lakers, scoring more than 33,000 points as one of the greatest basketball players ever.
Tellem, then a prominent agent in both basketball and baseball, said he saw greatness in Bryant beyond any young athlete he previously encountered.
“Nobody had the same drive, the whole package he had at that age,” Tellem said.
“Incredibly smart and driven. Focused, dedicated, an attitude that was critical to being great. When you combine that with physical talent and skill level, I just believed. I’d never seen anyone like that. It was off-the charts. To this day I’ve never seen anyone like that at that age.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 1:56 PM.
