 Hal Kobe Bryant never ended up with the Boston Celtics. As we all know Kobe Bryant is incredible Five NBA championships, a league MVP He recently had not one but two jerseys retired in the NBA But in my opinion one of his greatest achievements is the fact that he's a one team player Which is something that we rarely see with players in the NBA today He was a member of the Lakers for 20 seasons and Magic Johnson himself called him the greatest Laker of all time, which is a big statement, but he definitely has a case But what's crazy is the fact that he almost ended up playing for the arch rivals of the Lakers He almost ended up playing for the Boston Celtics in the draft of the 1996 NBA season Before I start the full article is linked down below in the description box if you want to have a read In 1996 ML Carr served as both head coach and executive vice president slash Director of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics and while the Celtics were in good hands heading into the 1996 NBA draft He did need some help in making a decision on who to draft by this time Red RBAC had become the team's president and whilst not every decision meant a visit to RBAC's office This wasn't just any decision. Plus, let's be honest who wouldn't come to RBAC for advice Especially draft advice. He flees St. Louis in 1956 to obtain the draft rights to Bill Russell He snatched John Havillichek with the last pick in the first round in 1962 He drafted Larry Bird as a junior eligible player in 1978 and completed another Lobside swap that gained the Celtics Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale in 1980 he also managed to draft Len Byers the second overall pick after winning an NBA Championship in the same year So yeah, look not a bad guy to go to advice for when Carr asked for his advice about the prospects The Celtics were considering with their first round pick in 1996 Well, there was a kid and this one kid named Kobe Bryant heading into pre draft workouts Kobe had wowed the Celtics But they were also amazed with his off-court ability as in a sit-down interview Carr said it was the best he had ever seen RBAC wasn't at the camp But he had seen footage and he said and I quote there was nothing the kid couldn't do So at this point Kobe to the Celtics is a strong possibility The only risk was the fact that Kobe was making the leap straight out of high school to the NBA Which was reasonably new but whilst it was new it had been done before With the Timberlake taking Garnett out of high school the year before of course Moses Malone and Darryl Dawkins had in the 70s But in recent NBA history it was only really KG and looking back at this It's typically only big men who get drafted out of high school due to being more NBA ready than guards Well as though it seemed RBAC said and I quote I think this kid is going to be a hell of a player But it can go either way. He seems to be solid, but he's a high school kid You've got to make a choice based on what you need today, but I think he's a hell of a player Keep in mind at this point Kobe is an avid Laker fan Growing up in Italy his grandparents had to send him VHS tapes to watch as he couldn't even watch games live He would watch the Lakers Celtics finals from the 1980s and despite being a huge Laker fan When he worked out with Boston at 17 years old He said working out with Dennis Johnson was the coolest thing in the world In addition when they brought out the practice gear he reflects on it saying I'm looking at it Like do I really have to put this on? I'm comfortable wearing the shit I have right now, but I quickly move past that man It's like I'm quickly about to become a professional if anything I understand the history of this franchise and this franchise has done a lot of amazing stuff So I was quickly able to move by that as you can imagine the workout was incredible for Kobe Here are some of the quotes from the staff in Boston. I tell you he put on a shooting exhibition the way He stroke the ball car remembers. It was unbelievable. He did it in flying colors Another quote was if you closed your eyes and thought a little bit you might have thought you were watching Michael Jordan Says then Celtics manager Jan Volk. He did everything. Well beyond. Well It was exceptional in everything that he did and then we commented as I recall on how reminiscent he was of Michael So, yeah, I mean nothing we haven't heard before but this is a 17 year old kid We're talking about here not Kobe. We know today. This is 17 year old Kobe and you need to keep that in mind As for the interview cast said he was the best interviewed that I've ever been a part of Kobe knew the league as well as anyone. He knew the Celtics from a historical standpoint He knew the Celtics probably better than most Celtics did at 17 years old I was like you've got to be kidding me quite frankly some of this stuff I didn't even know he said all the right things. He sounded like a Celtic, which is pretty crazy But from a young age it was evident that Kobe was just an avid fan of the game far more than most humans on the planet Even if he saw the Celtics as the rivals to his beloved Lakers, which cast said at the time the Celtics had no idea whatsoever Which was stated later on as cast said deep down Bryant was a die-hard Laker fan But the Celtics say they weren't aware of it at the time nor did Bryant relay that back to them at any point So what happened? How is it that after all this and all the praise given to Kobe Bryant all the quotes everything? How did they not draft him? Well in 1996 there were six prospects that were so-called Masked draft players they were known by all scouts and teams as the main guys to be drafted and even acquired a name by the Media they were called the super six of 96 as they came to be known Alan Iverson Marcus Camby Sharif Abdul Rahim Stefa Marbury Ray Allen and Antoine Walker no matter what if the Celtics could get into the top six They were gonna do it Evident by the statement we didn't care which one of the six fell to us Meaning a little hype by the media probably help the Celtics from drafting one of them over the young 17-year-old kid They saw tons of potential in and at the time Boston had the ninth overall pick But managed to sneak into the super six of 96 list and cut a deal to move up to the six overall pick Guaranteeing one of those players which was arguably a safer option at the time as they took Walker six overall But years later it was one of their biggest regrets as a franchise But at that time it had been said if college players were one step away from the NBA High school players were two steps away, which meant having a project further down the road What a player might become which would have been hard for the Celtics But ultimately a regret they would remember forever Nevertheless, as we all know the outcome car chose Walker six foot eight who certainly had the talent to lead an NBA team I mean in eight seasons in Boston Walker average 20 point six points 8.7 rebounds for us is he became an all-star in his second season in the NBA and twice more with the Celtics He also helped the Celtics reach the playoffs including the 2002 Eastern Conference finals So a very decent player, but to be honest with you Yeah, a little unfortunate as he was not the black mamba who was drafted by the Hornets And as we all know they dealt him to the Lakers in exchange for Vlad adVac a move that is now considered a genius move by Former Lakers general manager, Jerry West, which another awesome fact is that leading up to the draft Car said he had several conversations with West, but had no idea that West had any interest in Kobe That's why he's such a great general manager car says he wasn't going to give that away Another awesome fact is Kobe could have actually gone number one that year not a high chance But a chance nevertheless as at the end of Kobe's pre draft workout in Philadelphia Then 76ers assistant coach Maurice Cheeks asked Bryant to run from baseline to baseline while Cheeks timed him Bryant recorded an excellent time But then Cheeks told Kobe that Iverson had run it a bit faster when Kobe reflected back on this incident He said being the bullheaded kid I was I was like what the fuck does this have to do with playing basketball? Which as you can imagine slightly ruin his chances of going to Philly even more the 76ers held the top overall pick And eventually you sit on Iverson as for Philadelphia and Boston fans this one hurts Car recalls the meeting when the Celtics decided not to pick Bryant We all looked at each other car says we all knew there was a possibility that Kobe could come back and haunt us and Did he ever five NBA championships overall a 2010 championship against the Boston Celtics and he played for their arch rivals Which he claimed is the sweetest because it was the hardest So as we all know Kobe Bryant really hurt the Celtics, but he also hurt the Philly fans I'm sure you remember Bryant also beat Iverson and the 76ers in 2001 Those two finals are amongst Bryant's proudest achievements. So I'll leave you with this Boston fans What do you think would have happened had you drafted Kobe in 1996? You were that close another historic player to that historic team That would have been insane Kobe says I would have tried to carry on birth legacy Absolutely, I would have done it with a tremendous amount of pride and honor But as we all know he ended up playing for the Lakers and carried on Magic Johnson's legacy and Magic called him the greatest Laker of all time with that being said let me know if you want to see a wadi video on the scenario I think it would be a pretty awesome video, but I want to know what you guys think down below So let me know in the comment section if you do drop a like and comment down below if you truly want to watch a wadi video On this scenario. 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