The 1996 NBA Draft has gone down in history as one of the best NBA drafts ever. With a few legends, icons, and solid players, the NBA draft that year was stocked.
Recently some footage was posted of Kobe Bryant's draft workout for the Los Angeles Clippers. Yes, you read that right. The Clippers.
It's plainly visible even in that footage that Bryant had a killer jumper, and unparalleled athleticism, especially at the time. The Clippers of course passed on Bryant, choosing to draft Lorenzen Wright instead. Wright had a few good years, just not on the Clippers. He could never get going on that franchise. Of course in the '90s and beyond, the Clippers were a disaster. The rationale for not drafting Kobe Bryant was apparently because they didn't think Clippers fans would get behind drafting a 17-year-old high school player. The bar was not set very high for the Clippers organization at the time anyway, so this rationale becomes even more bizarre.
Other notable names from that draft were the no. 1 pick Allen Iverson, Steve Nash at 15, Marcus Camby at 2, Ray Allen at 5, and Laker legend Derek Fisher at number 24.
Now it is easy to say that hindsight is 20/20 and that nobody could know what Kobe Bryant was going to become. That rationalization goes out the window when you read the quote where the Clippers told Bryant that he had the best draft workout they had ever seen. When you see the talent and it's better than everyone else--you draft them.
In the end, the Lakers acquired Kobe Bryant after he was drafted by Charlotte. The rest, as they say, is history.
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