Ah, the summer of 1996 seems so long ago.
At this point it’s a footnote to a Hall of Fame career, but remember that Kobe Bryant was once (very briefly) property of the Charlotte Hornets. The story goes that the Lakers and Hornets worked out a trade the day before the 1996 NBA draft, and that Los Angeles told Charlotte to select Bryant with their first-round pick at the very last minute. To get him, L.A. gave up center Vlade Divac.
So, despite the fact that he never played a game for the franchise, and was never realistically a part of the team, Bryant does have that memory of being drafted by the Hornets. Bryant also apparently has a photo from draft day still lying around, as he tweeted out an image of him wearing a Charlotte Hornets cap through Instagram in honor of the Bobcats’ impending name change.
Check out Bryant doing some hardcore trolling of Charlotte basketball fans in the photo below.
Photo via Instagram/kobebryant
