Successful interception

"Qian Qian Boy" is not a complimentary title, but more like a ridicule.

The high school draft was not favored by everyone, and when an endorsement deal worth tens of millions of dollars came out, it felt like a thousand people were criticizing it.

Many college students who have performed well in the NCAA feel that I have not received tens of millions of dollars in endorsements. How can you, a high school student, earn these tens of millions of dollars?

So as soon as the nickname "Million Boy" appeared, Kobe instantly gained a lot of negative fans.

Some sports commentators also published articles saying that the so-called tens of millions of dollars in endorsements were nothing more than a self-directed and self-acted hype aimed at boosting Kobe's draft pick.

There are many famous people, and Kobe has a hard time speaking out in the face of rumors.

In a blink of an eye, it was the day of the draft.

Kobe was wearing a black suit and a blue and purple tie, sitting in the "Little Green Room."

"Little Green Room" is a special term in the American sports draft. In the NBA draft, players who receive official invitations to enter the draft green room are selected through the vote of the NBA team general manager. Generally, there are 14 to 20 players.

people.

A dozen other people in the small green room looked at Kobe with strange looks, most of which were not friendly.

As a high school player participating in the draft, Kobe was originally an outlier. Coupled with the recent "Million Kid" incident, Kobe has been pushed to the forefront.

Nowadays, everyone is a competitor on the same starting line. If you can receive endorsements but I don’t, then I will definitely be envious of you!

At this time, Kobe seemed very nervous. Five minutes ago, his agent Tellem had told him that the Lakers and the Charlotte Hornets had reached a consensus. The Hornets would use the 13th pick to select Kobe and then exchange the center for the Lakers.

Divac.

Although he already knew the result, Kobe was still looking forward to a miracle. He hoped that Philadelphia could use the No. 1 pick to select him.

With Kobe’s competitive character, not being number one means losing!

What's more, Kobe himself is from Philadelphia, and he prefers to play for his hometown.

Finally, the Philadelphia 76ers made their choice. NBA President David Stern walked to the stage, opened the small piece of paper in his hand, and announced: "The Philadelphia 76ers chose Allen Iver.

Sen!"

Applause rang out, and Iverson stood up to accept everyone's congratulations. In everyone's eyes, this was a natural result.

Only Kobe had a disappointed look on his face. The miracle did not happen. The 76ers did not choose him.

In front of the TV, James Bond curled his lips and said: "There are so many outstanding young men this year, how could the Philadelphia 76ers use the No. 1 pick to select a high school student! I think this Kobe should really go to college for a year and come back again."

If you participate in the draft, you might have a chance to be selected as the top pick!"

Li Weidong next to him laughed: "Even if Kobe goes to college for a year, he will not be the number one pick. When the NBA draft next year, there will definitely be a better choice than him in the little green room."

Li Weidong knew that in the 1997 NBA draft, a man who ruined most of the league participated in the draft. For this man, Popovich even lost his face!

That man's name is Tim Duncan.

Given Duncan's ability, if he had participated in the draft in 1995, he would have been the No. 1 pick; if he had participated in the draft in 1996, he would have been able to compete with Iverson, and perhaps he would have defeated Iverson by virtue of his status as an inside player.

After all, it was an era of insider players. The team would mess up for the top insiders, but they would not mess up for the top outsiders.

Therefore, even if Kobe participated in the NBA draft after his last year in college, he would still be defeated by Duncan. It is not because Kobe lacks ability, but because he was born at the wrong time.

At this time, the draft was still being broadcast on TV.

The Toronto Raptors with the second pick selected Camby, the Vancouver Grizzlies with the third pick selected Raheem, the Milwaukee Bucks with the fourth pick selected Marbury, and the Minnesota Timberwolves with the fifth pick.

Ray Allen.

The sixth pick originally belonged to the Dallas Mavericks. This pick was exchanged with the Boston Celtics, so the Celtics selected Anthony Walker with the sixth pick.

None of these six choices seemed to have any problems at the time. Even if it were to be done over again, these six people would still be the top six picks.

Before the 1996 NBA draft, there was a saying of "96 Super 6", which meant that in the 1996 draft, 6 superstars would be born, namely Iverson, Camby, Raheem, Marbury, and Ray.

Allen and Walker.

Therefore, the top six picks will inevitably select six of them. And the future performance of these six people, if placed in the draft in a normal year, will be worthy of their draft picks. The worst among the six has also made the All-Star.

In an NBA draft in a normal year, there would be no legend like Kobe Bryant, no superstar like Nash, no All-Stars like O'Neal, Peja, and Big Z, and no Ben Wallace.

An abandoned general at the level of a soldier.

However, in 1996, as long as you didn't choose Kobe, you made the wrong choice!

In the next 7 to 12 picks, except for the New Jersey Nets, all other teams selected post players, and four teams selected centers.

Big centers were obviously more popular in that era. It is for this reason that Camby beat Ray Allen and Marbury. If Iverson hadn't been too unbelievable, perhaps Camby would have become the golden generation of 1996.

of champion.

For those teams in the lottery, choosing a center is the safest choice.

With the 13th overall pick, the Charlotte Hornets selected Kobe Bryant.

This Charlotte Hornets is not the Charlotte Hornets of the current NBA, but the current New Orleans Pelicans.

At that time, the Charlotte Hornets first moved to New Orleans and became the New Orleans Hornets, and then changed their team name to the Pelicans.

The current NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, was formerly the Charlotte Bobcats and later changed its name to the Charlotte Hornets.

The Hornets chose Kobe. No one from any team was surprised. Everyone already knew that the Hornets had reached a deal with the Lakers. The Hornets would use Kobe's signing rights to trade for Lakers center Divac.

Generally speaking, no team will deliberately cut off players in this kind of draft outside the top ten. If the team selects a certain player, as long as the news is released in advance, other teams will often take advantage of it. This can be regarded as the best choice for each team.

Unspoken rules.

Things like cutting off Hu always happen in the first few picks, and the team will only do this when it encounters a player that it really likes and absolutely needs.

For example, in the 2009 NBA draft, Curry was originally going to the Knicks, and the Knicks also made a commitment. However, the Warriors really wanted Curry so much that they drafted Curry ahead of schedule. At that time,

When it was announced that the Warriors would draft Curry, both Curry and his son had confused expressions on their faces.

However, for those who don't know, the Hornets using the 13th overall pick to select a high school guard is simply crazy!

Many Hornets fans who were watching the draft in front of the TV began to curse and send all kinds of greetings to the family of the Hornets general manager.

In addition to Kobe, there are other better choices, such as Steve Nash, the king of the West Coast, Peja, who has already made a name for himself in the Greek League, and Delk, who won the NCAA championship.

Even if you have to choose a high school student, Jermaine O'Neal is better than Kobe! After all, he is a big center with a height of nearly seven feet. If there is a big center and you don't pick a shooting guard, isn't it a brain cramp?

It was only later that the news of Kobe Bryant's exchange for Divac came out, which calmed the resentment of Hornets fans. Fans began to feel that trading a high school guard for a starting center would be a huge profit.

However, a few years later, when Kobe became a legend, the Hornets' operation of giving away Kobe became the biggest laughing stock in the NBA. The Hornets general manager was scolded by his own fans again.

But in fact, given the draft atmosphere at the time, selecting Kobe with the 13th overall pick was already beyond expectations.

1996 is a big year for the draft. There are many outstanding college students participating in the draft. If high school students participate in the draft, don't say anything and lower them by ten picks first.

Inside players are also more popular than outside players. Kobe, as an outside player, will drop another five picks.

Since the basketball system at that time valued the inside, the status of point guard was higher than that of shooting guard. Therefore, as a shooting guard, Kobe had to drop another five picks.

In other words, the draft has not yet begun. High school shooting guards like Kobe will start with the 20th pick.

In the eyes of scouts, if you have to choose a high school student, O'Neal Jr. is definitely a more suitable choice. Although Kobe and O'Neal are both minors, O'Neal is a center after all and is more stable than Kobe.

In fact, the uncertainty of high school shooting guards was Kobe's biggest weakness back then.

High school students have not experienced college basketball experience, so uncertainty is inherently high, and shooting guard is the position with the greatest uncertainty among the five positions.

Before the draft, Kobe also participated in trial training with many teams. His performance in the trial training was also very good, and he defeated many college players in confrontation training.

However, the "uncertainty" dissuaded most team managers. Even though Kobe performed very well in the trial training, the team managers were still unwilling to take the risk in choosing Kobe.

No one can guarantee that a high school guard can adapt to the fierce competition of the NBA. Even if Kobe Bryant can eventually adapt to the NBA, shooting guards are relatively weak in the system at that time and are not worth cultivating.

The basketball system at that time was mainly based on the inside, and shooting guards could only be regarded as tactical supplements.

At that time, most shooting guards were actually swingmen, such as Drexler and Hardaway. Their playing style was more towards small forwards.

Another type of shooting guard is a pure three-point shooter, similar to Reggie Miller and Ray Allen. However, shooting requires talent, so there are only a handful of such three-point shooters.

People who have watched "Slam Dunk" can probably understand the basketball system. The top center is the standard for a strong team, the striker is the team's ace, the point guard is the team's brain, and as for the shooting guard, if not

The marksman has basically no role.

Of course, there is a special case among shooting guards, and that is Jordan.

However, there is only one Jordan. Jordan's strength is unprecedented. No one would think that this high school guard from Philadelphia will become the next Jordan.

Kobe's physical performance is pretty good, but compared with Jordan, it is indeed a notch behind. Moreover, Kobe was only 17 years old at the time, and compared to adults, his body was slightly thinner.

The 17-year-old Kobe has not yet unlocked all his offensive skills. At this time, no one will compare him with Jordan.

As a shooting guard, Kobe does not yet have the qualifications to be a swingman, nor does he have the shooting percentage of a sharpshooter. His future is too unpredictable. Choosing Kobe requires enough courage and courage!

In the end, only Jerry West, the general manager of the Lakers, showed his courage and was worthy of the title of "Godfather".

…

The NBA draft is still being broadcast on the TV. The first round of the draft has ended, and all the stars that Li Weidong is familiar with have also been selected.

Li Weidong pondered for a moment and said: "James, please contact Kobe's agent again and congratulate him!"

"Just congratulations?" James Bond asked.
To be continued...