Los Angeles Lakers: 5 biggest ‘what-ifs’ of the last 25 years

2. What if another team had drafted Kobe Bryant in 1996?

Before the five championships, the two scoring titles, the 81-point game and the 60-point career finale, there existed a scenario in which the Los Angeles Lakers may have never had Kobe Bryant in the first place.

It might sound improbable that one of the greatest players ever sat around until the 13th pick of the NBA Draft, but that’s what happened to Kobe in 1996.

At the time, pro teams weren’t so comfortable investing millions of dollars and prime roster spots on 18-year-old high school players — especially a 6’6″ guard whose slender frame didn’t look quite ready for the grown-man grind of the league.

Kobe skipped college in the early stages of the preps-to-pros trend, when a lot of teams were still unsure about gambling on potential compared to the production of a proven college talent.

According to legend, however, the New Jersey Nets were not one of those teams. Head coach John Calipari and GM John Nash were very high on Kobe and wanted him with the (ironic) No. 8 pick.

Toronto Raptors executive Isiah Thomas also liked Kobe back then and his team held the No. 2 spot in the draft. Thomas admitted in later years that he also had doubts about Kobe being able to adjust to life as a pro in a foreign country, so he went instead with UMass center Marcus Camby.

The Nets were ready to draft Kobe, but Kobe’s management team … um, talked them out of that.

The Charlotte Hornets did draft Kobe with the No. 13 pick, but a deal had already been worked out where they would trade him to the Lakers. It’s been debated whether the Hornets actually wanted Kobe or not, but most people seem to agree that Charlotte wasn’t a serious option.

What if Kobe had landed in Toronto or New Jersey instead of Los Angeles?

Again, Kobe was good enough and driven enough that it’s reasonable to expect he would’ve become a superstar anywhere.

Had he began his career with the Raptors or Nets, it’s also not a stretch to predict he would’ve eventually made his way to a more marquee franchise via trade or free agency. A force like Kobe Bryant was destined to play somewhere like L.A., New York or Chicago.

For the Lakers, if they hadn’t acquired Kobe in that draft, who would they have added to the roster?

The Lakers had the (ironic) No. 24 pick in 1996 and used it on Derek Fisher. He would become a key role player on five L.A. title teams and a Lakers fan favorite, but Fisher wouldn’t have been Shaquille O’Neal’s superstar sidekick for a championship three-peat like Kobe.

Even without Kobe in the mix, the Lakers would’ve entered the Shaq era with a solid foundation. Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel were an All-Star backcourt in L.A. alongside Shaq before Kobe’s ascension to superstardom.

Given the Lakers’ history of being able to get the right stars at the right time, it seems entirely realistic that they would’ve found the right formula to still win a championship or two with Shaq as the centerpiece.