With Kobe Bryant’s illustrious career now officially in the books, there’s no doubt that the draft night trade 20 years ago -- in which the Charlotte Hornets sent Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac -- had an enormous impact on not only the Black Mamba’s career, but also an enormous ripple effect throughout the NBA.
What if the Hornets never traded Kobe Bryant to the Lakers?
In the wake of Kobe Bryant wrapping up his Hall of Fame career with a scintillating, 60-point outburst reminiscent of yesteryear, it’s fair to wonder how his career would have played out had he not been traded for Vlade Divac on the night of the 1996 NBA Draft. Fortunately, SB Nation knows how that alternate reality would have played out.Watch on YouTube | Subscribe to SB Nation on YouTube
We all know how everything ultimately fell into place. Kobe’s presence in LA helped lure Shaq to the Lakers, and the five championships and countless accolades soon followed over the course of the ensuing two decades. So what would have been the fallout if the Hornets hadn’t pulled the trigger on the Kobe trade all those years ago?
Not only would the fortunes of the Lakers and Hornets have been drastically altered, so would the entire NBA landscape, and, for that matter, life as we know it. Let’s take a peek at how things certainly would have played out had the Hornets denied the Lakers’ overtures.
