“Gotta bring this kid in the second time”: Former Lakers GM explains how Kobe Bryant changed Jerry West’s perception after uninspiring McDonald’s game
Former LA Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak revealed how Kobe Bryant changed Jerry West’s perception after an uninspiring McDonald’s game. Before the 1996 NBA Draft that shaped the next decade for the Lakers, Bryant was bought in for a workout in which Kupchak was a notable absentee. But what the ‘Black Mamba’ did in that session meant that West wanted to give the young kid from Philadelphia another run.
Bryant worked out with former Lakers stars Larry Drew and Michael Cooper, with the latter rating the shooting guard highly as he broke down Cooper’s defense. The rest of the story as the world knows, is history.The Lakers were looking to trade center Vlade Divac, and the Charlotte Hornets were looking for a big. West saw the sequence of events as an opportunity to unload Divac’s salary in exchange for the 13th pick, the first outside of the lottery, saving even more moolah to orchestrate a move to sign Shaquille O’Neal. The Hornets selected Kobe Bryant who had slipped to 13th on the list on the night of the draft and later completed the trade with LA.
Jerry West talked Kobe Bryant out of joining the Memphis Grizzlies
In an appearance on Paul George’s ‘Podcast P’, the late Jerry West spoke about how Kobe Bryant had plans to join the Memphis Grizzlies. Then 25, the 5x NBA champion had won three rings with O’Neal and was a free agent in 2004. He reached out to West, who was the GM of the Grizzlies at the time, only to be talked out of the move.
