NBA Draft: Ranking the 10 Craziest Draft-Day Trades of All Time

#2 Charlotte Hornets Trade Kobe Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers

The Charlotte Hornets trade Kobe Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers

This trade has become a mystical tale around the NBA and always comes into importance whenever the talks turn to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Charlotte Hornets had selected Kobe Bryant with the 13th overall draft pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. But Kobe wasn’t thrilled with the draft as he had always dreamt of playing for the purple and gold as a child. Jerry West, then the general manager of the Lakers didn’t need much time to make up his mind about Kobe from what he saw during his workout with Los Angeles and engineered a trade. So, the Hornets traded Bryant to the Lakers for Vlade Divac and the rest is history.

The deal seemed good on paper with the Hornets receiving a strong center and also saved themselves from a deal with the risk of a high school player. Divac lasted only two years in Charlotte before being traded to Sacramento where he helped them become one of the better teams in the NBA.

Kobe became one of the best players this game has ever produced and continued the legacy of this great Lakers franchise for the entirety of his career. Kobe Bryant won 5 championships, 2 NBA Finals MVP Award, 2008 Most Valuable Player Award and was an 18 time NBA All-Star.

If the Hornets had held onto Kobe, they probably would not have moved from Charlotte. One small trade seemed so innocent, but with far-reaching consequences.