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lol hornets
Former Hornets GM Bob Bass lives with the decision of trading Kobe Bryant for Vlade Divac
by Jimmy Smith
Here's a trivia question: What do the following NBA teams have in common?
Philadelphia 76ers.
Toronto Raptors.
Memphis (Vancouver) Grizzlies.
Milwaukee Bucks.
Minnesota Timberwolves.
Boston Celtics.
Los Angeles Clippers.
New Jersey Nets.
Dallas Mavericks.
Indiana Pacers.
Golden State Warriors.
Cleveland Cavaliers.
Each passed on the opportunity to draft Kobe Bryant in 1996.
Why, then, do the Hornets get the majority of adverse publicity for drafting the 17-year-old high school player then trading him to the Los Angeles Lakers for center Vlade Divac, a player who helped the then-Charlotte Hornets to back-to-back 50-win-plus seasons?
Former Hornets general manager Bob Bass, the man who pre-arranged this deal that not only helped put his team into the Eastern Conference playoffs two straight years but also paved the way for one of the most dominating big men in league history to move from the Eastern to the Western Conference, still bristles 13 years later when asked about the swap.
"Let's start out this way, " Bass said. "There had never been a high school player come into the league that didn't play in the front court."
Bass offered examples such as Moses Malone, Darryl Dawkins and Kevin Garnett.
"Secondly, 12 other teams passed on Kobe Bryant; 12 other teams said, 'I don't want him.' The Nets even got a workout. He refused to work out with us. He didn't work out with anybody. We had talks on the trade, but we didn't make it for about 3 1/2 weeks. We had a chance to get a 7-foot-(1) center who had been very successful in the league.
"You add all those three things together, that's why the decision was made. Plus, he couldn't make a jump shot when he first came into the league. We won 54 the first year Divac was there and 51 the next year. The only problem with that (Hornets) team was Michael Jordan was in his hey-day and Patrick Ewing had that great New York team. And we were in the Eastern Conference. That's what happened on that."
The first year the Hornets had Divac in the post, as Bass pointed out, they won a then-team record 54 games but ran into Ewing's Knicks in the first round of the playoffs and were swept in three games.
The next season, the Hornets won 51 games, beat Atlanta in the first round, but lost to Jordan's Bulls in the conference semifinals in five games.
In 1996, Lakers General Manager Jerry West was hoping to free the team's salary cap of the rest of Divac's $8.3 million salary over the next two years so the Lakers could make a play in free agency for Orlando center Shaquille O'Neal. The Lakers, who were mired in a funk, hadn't made a playoff run since the Showtime-era of Magic Johnson.
Bryant had shown up in Los Angeles, unannounced, to work out for the Lakers, who were auditioning Mississippi State's Dontae Jones, who had led the Bulldogs into that year's Final Four after a successful SEC Tournament in New Orleans.
The son of former NBA player Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant, Kobe had grown up in Italy where his father played after his NBA career ended, and he played for several years in Philadelphia at Lower Merion High School, where he finished as a 6-foot-5 shooting guard/forward who could jump but was an inconsistent shooter.
When Bryant got the better of Jones in the workout after having gone one-on-one against Lakers defensive specialist Michael Cooper, who tried to muscle the teen-ager and rattle him, West reportedly turned to an aide and whispered, "I've seen enough, let's go."
Armed with the knowledge that the Hornets were in the market for a post player, West made a pre-draft deal with Bass in which the Hornets would draft Bryant if he were still available and later swap his rights to Los Angeles for Divac.
"We had the deal, " Bass said, "but who in the world thought (Bryant) would be there at No. 13? And the Lakers, regardless of what they said after they had (Bryant), but they wanted space on the cap to sign Shaquille O'Neal. And devious as I am, I thought it would be a good way to get Shaquille out of the Eastern Conference. If we'd have gotten Michael and some others out, that would have been something."
Bryant canceled a workout with the Sacramento Kings, who had the No. 14 pick in the first round in 1996 and declined to work out for the Hornets. His agent, Arn Tellem, also told the Hornets, according to Bass, that Bryant did not want to play in a small market such as Charlotte.
Divac initially did not want to play for the Hornets, preferring to stay in L.A. where his wife was pursuing an acting career.
He subsequently changed his mind, as did the Hornets. Divac left the Hornets after the second season, opting to go back to California when he signed with Sacramento. In two seasons in Charlotte, Divac averaged 11.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.
For the past 13 years, Bass has lived with, and answered, the criticism of the 1996 swap that, along with other moves that re-made the Hornets roster, earned Bass the 1996-97 NBA Executive of the Year award.
"The biggest part about it when people start criticizing you . . . is what about those 12 other teams?" Bass said. "Look at who they took. They didn't get any Vlade Divac, I tell you that.
"Allen Iverson went No. 1 that year (to the 76ers) and the strange thing about it was (Bryant) grew up in Philadelphia and they saw him play in high school two years and they took Iverson ahead of him."
lol hornets
Tough to bag on the Cavaliers for passing up on Kobe. If he wasn't willing to play in Charlotte, which was a pretty good team at the time, he sure as wasn't going to play in Cleveland. Besides, the Cavaliers did manage to get Big Z with the 20th pick, although they frittered away the 11th on "the Ukraine Train" Vitaly Potapenko.
I've always been more bitter about the 1995 Draft, when the Cavaliers passed up on Michael Finley to take Bob Sura.
Rox pass on Michael Jordan for Hakeem Olajuwon >mistake than Hornets passing on Kobe for Vlade.
Houston and N.O. pass on two players that, combined won 9 les -2 rox les = 7 les in the hole.
Houston 2 les - 6 Jordan/chicago les = -4 les in the hole.
N.O. 0 les - 3 Kobe/LA les = -3 les in the hole.
Last edited by Roxsfan; 03-29-2009 at 01:03 AM.
Divac was a damn good player and person. Those Sacramento teams earlier this decade were great.
Roxsfan sig is so stupidly over the top
Its hard to blame the GM for that move. Kobe didn't want to play in Charlotte. Divac helped the team win back-to-back 50 win seasons. I don't think Kobe would have helped that team win a championship.
Kobe was a gift from God for the lakers, while it was also not a bad thing for the teams that missed Kobe... God believes in justice, he always intentionally add some flaws to make his gift imperfect. at these the
Philadelphia 76ers.
Toronto Raptors.
Memphis (Vancouver) Grizzlies.
Milwaukee Bucks.
Minnesota Timberwolves.
Boston Celtics.
Los Angeles Clippers.
New Jersey Nets.
Dallas Mavericks.
Indiana Pacers.
Golden State Warriors.
Cleveland Cavaliers.
didn't get a rapist.
Every single one of those GMs knew Kobe was a bad-ass. Maybe not as good as he became but still pretty badass.
These are the GMs that REALLY F'ed up. (in bold)
1. Philadelphia Allen Iverson
2. Toronto Marcus Camby
3. Vancouver Shareef Abdur-Rahim
4. Milwaukee (1) Stephon Marbury
5. Minnesota (1) Ray Allen
6. Boston (from Dallas) Antoine Walker
7. LA Clippers Lorenzen Wright
8. New Jersey Kerry Kittles
9. Dallas (from Boston) Samaki Walker
10. Indiana (from Denver) Erick Dampier
11. Golden State Todd Fuller
12. Cleveland (from Wash.) Vitaly Potapenko
13. Charlotte Kobe Bryant
Shareef was a really good player on a bad team.
Yeah, I was a bit on the fence Shareef, he was a very good player, just not a franchise kind of guy.
I went with the fact that Kobe coming out of high school still had more talent than Shareef.
If anything, the trade allowed Shaq to move to LA, which was much more important than Kobe. Kobe has been a franchise player, but he wasn't the main reason the Lakers won the championships. Lakers weren't doing much in the playoffs until Phil Jackson came which was 3 seasons after the trade. Kobe has never won a Finals MVP so obviously he was second fiddle to Shaq. Plus, he never wanted to play in Charlotte and the Hornets knew that.
Shareef was a dominating college player and a top 5 recruit. He won Pac-10 player of the year in his freshmen season at Cal before bolting. I'm not sure how the Grizzlies would have done with Kobe. That franchise was a mess. Kobe would have probably demanded a trade once they moved to Memphis. Kobe's been the beneficiary of playing with Shaq and learning under Phil Jackson. His game needed serious polish before arriving where he is now.
exactly, shaq was the real leader of the lakers and he won all his 3 rings with the lakers, Kobe at most was just a servant of shaq on that team.
That is true. The Hornets helped the Lakers acquire Shaq. Kobe wouldn't bave won without Shaq. But at the same time, Shaq wouldn't have won without Kobe (ie. Penny Hardaway).
Of course Philip was also another excellent acquisition for the Lakers.
Whether or not Kobe wanted to play in Charlotte was irrelevant. Incoming draft players either play for their drafted team or they don't play in the NBA. Kobe would have played.
One of the greatest all-time trades for the Lakers. Probably one of the worst, if not the worst for the Hornets.
in addition, as shaq's servant, Kobe's major job was just to clean shaq's ass.
exactly, actually shaq hasn't won a championship since he left Kobe and LA in the summer of 04.
Kobe, regardless of Phil/Shaq, was destined to become one of the greatest players. And you could see that in high school. What separates Kobe from the rest is his work ethic. Even in high school and throughout his career, Kobe has worked relentlessly to become the best.
Kobe was already playing against NBA players during the summer time I think when he was 16/17.
Kobe was the Lebron of 1996. There was no question that he was extremely talented, everybody knew he was great. But they were hesitant to pull the trigger on a high schooler.
I just don't think Kobe would have had the same impact. Who knows how his career would have turned out in Charlotte. I wasn't a Hornets fan back then, but I guess they would have started Geiger at center (assuming he was there, I really don't know). The Hornets acquired Bobby Phils the next season along with David Wesley at PG. Kobe would have been 6th man.
C Geiger
PF Mason
SF Rice
SG Phils
PG Wesley
6th man Kobe
The next season the Hornets traded Rice to the Lakers for Campbell and Jones. Maybe Kobe is starting by that time, but Jones and Phils were two really good players. The Hornets missed the playoffs and ened up in the lottery where they got extremely lucky and ended up with Baron Davis. Maybe with Kobe on the team, they don't end up drafting Baron Davis. Anyway, without Kobe, that team was looking really good with Campbell, Mason, Jones, Phils, and Davis/Wesley. With Kobe, he would replace Davis. It would have been interesting.
the only thing I can see in high school was his eyesight towards his young teachers who were very sexy, which was destined to make him the world's most rapist after he grow up.
At that time Kobe was only 16/17.
Kobe was the chamberlain of contemporary.
Yeah, it is interesting. The Hornets back then were pretty good. The Phils tragedy was pretty bad and probably messed up Wesley.
But maybe Rice wouldn't have gotten injured and traded. Maybe Phils was at home resting for the next game since the Hornets were going somewhere.
Things might have been alot different, who knows. That could have been a pretty bad-ass team.
blah ... sons nobody wants a rapist on their team.
Sons, as hot as your chick Jamie is, I betcha even she wouldn't have spooge from 4 different dudes in her in 24 hours.
+1
Having Kobe on team is an extreme tragedy for any team, and it's also a very dangerous thing for any team to have Kobe on team, especially for LA where live many beautiful women like Halle Berry.
you know it that exactly? are you one of the 4 twin brothers, or the guy who ed her and made her pregnant for the 4 dudes?Sons, as hot as your chick Jamie is, I betcha even she wouldn't have spooge from 4 different dudes in her in 24 hours.
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