Los Angeles Lakers is where Kobe Bryant was destined to be. This is where he wanted to be. While as magical as it sounds, it wasn’t fate. Many are well aware of how former Lakers General Manager Jerry West built a master plan to lead the high school athlete to make the first step in becoming the legend he was. During the pre-draft workouts in L.A., West was impressed by the Mamba and could see the future if he were able to bring Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal together.  But the issue was the Lakers didn’t have the lottery picks and hence the masterplan. Just recently, NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith opened up about how West manipulated the entire situation to bring in Bryant to his dream destination Lakers.

During a conversation in the latest segment of ‘Earn Your Leisure‘ Smith shared that it was after West’s manipulations that Bryant openly expressed his wish to play for the Lakers and not for the Charlotte Hornets which drafted him as the 13th pick. “He (Kobe) made it known that he wanted to go to the Lakers right because Jerry West had let him know okay if you if I can get you I’m going to get you here but I need you to make some noise exactly so because if you make this noise then Charlotte isn’t going to want to keep you because they know they’re going to have a disgruntled player and as a result I’ll be able to grab you I’m just saying Jerry West manipulated all of that,” Smith said. 

However, Bryant has been clear about his desire to play for the Lakers right from the beginning when he threatened to play in Italy if he didn’t get to play for his desired team. But then again after 18 years, Bryant took to his X account to share how the Hornets told him that they didn’t need him right after he was drafted. Quite harsh for a young hooper.

Vlade Divac opened up about his trade to the Charlotte Hornets 

The Lakers were also trying to bring O’Neal from the Orlando Magic. While the Hornets needed a center, West had one option which was to trade Divac to bring in Bryant. That also helped the Lakers’ financial aspect to bring O’Neal. It seems Smith might be true in his opinion. To make this deal happen, West ended up giving away their priced center Vlade Divac. Initially, Divac even refused the trade. Later, he revealed how the trade hurt him. 

The year and date must be still vivid to the Lakers fans. It was 1996 and after convincing, the Lakers were able to acquire Bryant on July 11, 1996. But the Lakers held a special meaning for Divac too. He shared that he loved the Lakers fans and wanted to play for the team. 

“I told my agent that I am not going to Charlotte. I loved L.A. I loved the Lakers. For every kid that played basketball, it was basketball heaven being with Magic and the other guys,” Divac said in an interview with Yahoo Sports. But he knew that he had to make the decision. Divac finally decided to play for the Charlotte Hornets after an “emotional meeting” with West that convinced him. Did you know about this?