"Kobe didn't want to come to Charlotte, he wanted to play in the bigger market" - Muggsy Bogues on Charlotte drafting Kobe Bryant at the request of LA Lakers
Unbeknownst to many, Kobe Bryant's selection to the LA Lakers came at the hands of Charlotte, who traded their 13th overall pick just a day before the 1996 NBA draft to the Lakers.
A legend in his own right, Muggsy Bogues spoke about Charlotte drafting Bryant at the request of the LA Lakers in the latest episode of SHOWTIME Basketball's "All The Smoke." Bogues stated:
"It would have been special, but we understood Kobe didn't want to come to Charlotte. He wanted to play in the bigger market.
"And once we came to find out that the hornets were just taking them based on the requests of the Lakers, you know, because he was a high school player getting a lot of hype and you know, at the time, we wasn't really following him much but we was hearing so much about him."
Bogues further added:
"I personally started to watch a little bit highlights of him and was getting a little excited. Ohh this is a possibility you know, young fellow, come in and do some special. But then we found out that, you know, it was a means of him wanting to play in that bigger market. "
The LA Lakers traded their starting center at the time, Vlade Divac, for the draft rights of Kobe Bryant in the 1996 draft.
Reflecting on Kobe Bryant's legendary career with the LA Lakers
Often included in conversations with the greatest players to ever play the game, Kobe Bryant retired from basketball as one of its most decorated players. He won almost every single major award an NBA player could win.
Bryant retired as a five-time champion, two-time Finals MVP and won the 2008 MVP. He also earned 18 All-Star selections and 11 All-NBA First Team selections.
Of his five championships, Bryant won three in a row in 2000, 2001 and 2002 with Shaquille O'Neal. The duo of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant split-up following the 2004 finals, which the LA Lakers lost.
After the split, Kobe went on to win two championships with the Lakers, going back-to-back in 2009 and 2010. Bryant's Lakers also made a finals appearance in 2008, but lost to the Boston Celtics in six games.
After an Achilles tear in 2013, Bryant's career never followed the same path as it did in his early years.
Between 2010 and 2013, Kobe and the Lakers suffered either a first-round or a second-round exit, but after 2013 and until his retirement, Kobe never made the playoffs. He retired in 2016.