NBA: Top 5 biggest what-if draft selections from the 1990s

1. 1996 — Kobe Bryant to the Boston Celtics

The 1996 NBA Draft is largely remembered for both the hits and misses — depending on which team you ask. Some teams acquired star talents that pushed them into playoff contention. Others were on the wrong side of history and left with regrets over their selection.

The Boston Celtics are in the middle of this spectrum. They acquired Antoine Walker with the sixth pick in the draft. He met expectations with three All-Star seasons before being shipped off to the Dallas Mavericks. But what if they had selected Kobe Bryant? It is a question that all 12 teams that passed on the future Hall of Famer have once asked themselves.

Unlike with each of the 12 teams, Kobe to the Celtics looked like a real possibility at one point.

The Celtics hosted him for a pre-draft workout and in typical Kobe fashion, he left those watching in amazement at just how advanced his on-ball play was for a player out of high school. His interview also impressed the team front office, including then-Celtics General Manager M. L. Carr.

"“Kobe was a little bit different in that he was so knowledgeable of the game. He had a real understanding of the NBA. Obviously, his father, Joe, played in the league, too. But Kobe, we said at the time, he was the best interview of all the players we worked out. In terms of his knowledge, understanding what the game was all about, the history and also the players prior.”"

The Celtics passed on Kobe and Jerry West’s Lakers traded up to take Kobe.

Just like with the Alex Rodriguez to the Boston Red Sox speculation in 2004 and countless others, what-if’s in rivalries truly make for compelling scenarios. Had the Celtics picked Kobe, do they become immediate playoff contenders or are still a losing team, which allows them to still pick Paul Pierce two years later? As mentioned before, would it have been possible to instead see a Tracy McGrady and Shaquille O’Neal pairing with the Lakers? Does Kobe end up remaining loyal to the Celtics in the long-term?

So many intriguing questions for such a landscape-altering what-if scenario in NBA history.