Kobe Bryant was almost recognized all over the nation as one of the most promising prospects in the nation when he declared for the 1996 NBA Draft. However, the fact that he jumped to the league straight out of Lower Merion high school made his draft stock significantly slipped.
Still, John Calipari and his New Jersey Nets had the chance to take Kobe with the 8th overall pick of that Draft. Instead, the now NCAA legend decided to go with Kerry Kittles out of Villanova.
Shortly after, Calipari tried to explain that decision, and while he thought he had a valid point, it’s pretty clear that he messed up big time:
“We really liked Kobe and I think he’s going to be a terrific player. I think he’s going to be a terrific player in the NBA. But for us right now where we are and what we needed I felt in the end that it was Kerry Kittles,” Calipari claimed.
John Calipari explaining why he took Kerry Kittles over Kobe Bryantđź’€@OldTakesExposed pic.twitter.com/IIkAzZO3SK
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) June 15, 2020
Kittles ended up having a somewhat decent 8-year NBA career. He averaged 14.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game on 43% shooting. He also spent most of his career with the Nets organization, for what it’s worth. In fact, he even made the All-Rookie team while Kobe struggled early to find consistent playing time.
Needless to say, Bryant would end up becoming one of the greatest and most influential athletes of all time. A 5-time NBA Champion now unanimously deemed the greatest player in Los Angeles Lakers history and one of the biggest marksmen in competitive basketball.
Obviously, drafting isn’t an exact science, and more often than not general managers, coaches, and scouts make blatant mistakes like this, so it’s hard to put all the blame on Calipari for this.
