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The Sacramento Kings got their share of flak for taking Peja Stojakovic during the 1996 NBA Draft instead of John Wallace, but they were prepared to go a completely different way if then-high schooler Kobe Bryant slipped down the board.
As fate would have it, Bryant would only slip to 13th to the Charlotte Hornets before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, but the Kings were ready to pull the trigger if he became available.
“At that time, high school players weren't going that high in the draft as they did a little bit later.” longtime front-office man Jerry Reynolds told Jordan Ramirez of Kings.com. “But [president of basketball operations] Geoff [Petrie] made it clear to Kobe’s agent, that if his client was there at No. 14 that we would take him.
However, that came with a significant twist.
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“Kobe’s camp told us that if he was drafted by the Kings, he wouldn’t sign,” said Reynolds. “Arn Tellem — Bryant's agent — said he wouldn't sign with several teams in front of us either because he wanted to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. Tellem had a relationship with Jerry West, who of course was running the Lakers at that time.”
This was part of the infamous bubble strategy that Tellem put in place to get Bryant to play for the Lakers, not allowing him to work out for any other team after then-general manager Jerry West was stunned by his prowess.
“I know absolutely for a fact that we would’ve taken Kobe, and the only way that he wasn’t going to play for the Sacramento Kings was the Lakers swinging a trade, and they did it,” said Reynolds. “Tellem knew that Geoff Petrie wasn't going to back off like other teams. Kobe didn’t care what position he was drafted, he just wanted to go to the Lakers.”
Had the Lakers not been that high on the future Hall of Famer, the Kings would have snatched him to Sacramento. But Bryant was determined to start his career with the Lakers and Tellem played a huge part in ensuring that's where he'd ultimately land.
