The Los Angeles Lakers changed the history of their franchise in 1996 by making a certain series of moves that allowed them to form a duo that can be argued as amongst the best ever in the league. The Lakers traded Vlade Divac to Charlotte for the rights to draft Kobe Bryant in the 1996 Draft. That move also allowed the Lakers to have enough cap space to sign Shaquille O’Neal from the Orlando Magic.
Kobe getting drafted coming out of high school was a massive deal, especially on a team like the Lakers. However, Jerry West personally pushed for the Lakers to draft Kobe and the rest, as they say, is history. A man who’d later end up coaching Kobe and the Lakers, Byron Scott, was on the team at the time and had this to say about seeing Kobe and Shaq on the Hulu docuseries ‘Legacy’.
“I knew he had greatness in him from day 1 of watching him in practice, and then we have Shaq, and if they could gel, I was like man sky is the limit for them.”
Kobe Bryant on feeling pressure coming out of HS:
“Not really it more excitement more than anything. I can’t wait to go out there & just play,” says @kobebryant.@official_bscott: “I knew he had greatness in him from day 1 of watching him in practice.”#Lakersdoc #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/InwF65VIy0
— Landon Buford (@LandonBuford) September 12, 2022
Kobe Bryant: The Greatest Laker Of All Time?
When it comes to the conversation of the greatest Laker to live, there are many answers that people have. The oldest answers could stretch back to the likes of Jerry West or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, while some may name Magic Johnson. However, the modern generation of fans associates the LA Lakers with Kobe Bryant for everything they achieved together.
No one had a longer career for the Lakers than Kobe, playing 20 seasons with the team. In that time, he won 5 titles for the franchise and was awarded 2 Finals MVPs for his performances. He retired as the all-time leading scorer for the franchise, a distinction that will be incredibly hard to break for any modern Laker.
