What NBA Team Drafted Kobe Bryant?
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Kobe Bryant was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA Draft with the 13th overall pick.
The Los Angeles Lakers
Kobe Bryant was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He was then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he spent the majority of his 20-year career.
The 1996 NBA Draft
The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th anniversary draft commemorating the founding of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 26, 1996. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players from high schools and international leagues.
This was also the first NBA draft to be televised live. The draft featured Hall of Fame players such as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird who announced their retirements shortly after being hired as head coaches for their respective teams (the Lakers and the Pacers respectively). As a result of announce their retirements on the day of the draft, David Stern created a late replacement rule where if a team filled its entire complement of 22 roster spots with active or inactive players before its turn came up on the Draft clock to make its first selection (which it would have otherwise forfeited), that team could then make its selection(s). This happened when the Indiana Pacers chose eventual Hall of Famer Reggie Miller with their 11th pick in the first round despite having just drafted Bruiser Flint with their 10th pick hours earlier (Both had agreed to terms with agent David Falk), as well as when Jerry West’s Lakers were able to retain their 60th pick (used later to select Derek Fisher) when former Laker C Everett Koopman failed his physical due to injuries he had suffered from an earlier car accident.
Kobe Bryant was selected with the 13th overall pick in 1996 by the Charlotte Hornets
The Trade
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, an arena shared with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. One of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, the Lakers have won 16 NBA championships, their last being in 2010.
The franchise began with the 1947 purchase of a disbanded team, the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League (NBL). The new team began play in Minneapolis, calling themselves the Minneapolis Lakers. Initially a member of the NBL, the Lakers won the 1948 NBL championship before joining the rival Basketball Association of America (BAA), where they would win five of the next six championships, led by star George Mikan. After struggling financially in the late 1950s following Mikan’s retirement, they relocated to Los Angeles before rivals Baltimore Bullets (later to become Washington Wizards) owner Abe Pollin did likewise with his team. Led by Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, Los Angeles made playoff appearances 27 times in their next 30 seasons.
However, by 1976–77 season attendance for home games had dipped below 10,000 which made them one of just three remaining large capacity arenas that drew fewer than 10,000 fans regularly that didn’t have luxury suites or other revenue streams that required larger attendance such as basketball courses or auto shows; eventually each would relocate or be forced to close entirely due to lack if interest from fans and inability to generate sufficient revenue from alternative sources..
The Charlotte Hornets
Kobe Bryant was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA draft with the 13th overall pick.
The Trade
On July 1, 1996, the Charlotte Hornets traded Kobe Bryant, who had just been drafted in the first round with the 13th overall pick, to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for center Vlade Divac.
The Aftermath
In the aftermath of the Charlotte Hornets drafting Kobe Bryant, then trading him to the Los Angeles Lakers, the franchise was left to rebuild. They went through a rough patch, failing to make the playoffs for several years. But, they gradually improved and made a playoff run in 2014.
