Heading into the 1996 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Lakers had a deal in place to send center Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets for the No. 13 pick, which the Hornets would use on a 17-year-old from the Philadelphia suburbs named Kobe Bryant. But one team threatened to ruin all that — not to mention the Lakers' fortunes.
The New Jersey Nets had the No. 8 pick, and John Nash, their general manager, badly wanted Bryant. But John Calipari, their head coach, decided to take a guard from Villanova University named Kerry Kittles.