Once upon a time, there was a Pennsylvania high school basketball player who could play all five positions, average over 30ppg, 10rbg, and 5apg. He was a star athlete for Lower Merion High School. His name was Kobe Bryant.
After his freshman year, his team finished with a 4-20 record. Over the next three years Bryant would lead the Aces to a 77-13 record and in his senior year, a state championship. Bryant would eventually have his jersey number of 33 retired by the Aces and become Lower Merion's all time leading scorer with 2,883 points.
Despite being recruited by some of the top colleges in the nation, such as Duke and North Carolina, Kobe Bryant decided to enter the NBA Draft straight out of high school. There was a lot of speculation over whether or not this high school stud had what it took to be a star in the professional league.
In the 1996 NBA Draft, the Charlotte Hornets selected Kobe Bryant 13th overall and in a move that would go down in history, traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers for their starting center Vlade Divac. Kobe would go on to become an NBA legend with career stats of 25ppg, 4.7apg, 5.2rpg, winning five NBA championships with the Lakers, 2 Finals MVPs and 1 league MVP.
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