Source/ESPN
By David Fleming
Translator/kewell
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If Kobe was selected by the Nets
On that historic day, Kobe -Bryant had only one basketball with him. It was early in June 1996, and he was in Los Angeles Lakers Pre draft (now legendary) trial training. At 17, Kobe was still a skinny boy with a smile on his face. He came out of Shutters on the Beach, a fashionable beach resort in Santa Monica, California, with his favorite basketball under his arm.
He was the driver of the Chevrolet Blazer, a famous NBA player and a senior executive of the Lakers at that time Jerry -West's minor son, Ryan West. "It's the most interesting thing to get a ball, and let me see both sides of Kobe," said Ryan, who is now a scout for Pistons. "It shows Kobe's absolute concentration and devotion, and it also shows the childish side of his character. No matter where he goes, he should take his favorite toy with him."
It was the idea of agent Arne Thrum to let his peers take Kobe for a ride in LA. This trial may be a decisive moment in Kobe's fledgling career. Trum hopes that the genius from Raul Merion High School in Philadelphia will feel comfortable and relaxed as much as possible. The year before last, Kevin Garnett, who was 6 '11 ", followed Darrell Dawkins and Moses Malone, the elders, and jumped directly from high school to career. But Kobe is the first guard to dare to do so. "He was playing with himself," Matty Black, the director of NBA scouting, said in an interview at that time. "Of course, he wants to enter the league. I also want to be a movie star. He is not ready at all."
However, after several team trials, as the son of former ball star Joe Bryant (nicknamed "Sugar Bean"), Kobe's draft expectations continued to rise that summer. The Nets with the No. 8 signature and its new coach, John Caliparry, have tried Kobe Bryant several times in a row, and he is particularly concerned about him.
From the perspective of market and basketball, Trump knows that there is only one place suitable for his client: Showtime. What Kobe needs to do is to convince Jerry West, the team architect and guardian of the Lakers. West agreed to test Kobe after selling Trump's personal favor, and he was ready to punish the boy: when Kobe and Ryan were still stuck on the 405 highway, Kobe's opponent in the test had been determined, that is, one of the best defenders in NBA history, Mikel Cooper.
What happened 45 minutes later in the YMCA Stadium in Inglewood is still talked about by NBA insiders 25 years later. But Ryan is an exception. "It's easy to summarize," he said. "That's the best trial I've ever seen."
The video image has been annihilated, and only a few people witnessed it. The Lakers' trial training of Kobe Bryant will ignite the wild speculation about the scheming before the draft, and finally it has created a legend, revitalized a dynasty team, innovated the sport, and brought this epic oral history.
Mark Hessler (From 1979 to 2011, he worked in the NBA team of the Los Angeles Times): Kobe is a real basketball prodigy. This word should be said to be born for him. He once told me that he felt he had a destiny in the NBA. I asked him: "When did you have this idea?" He said: "When you were five years old." Kobe will not be intimidated by anything, on the contrary. When he was in high school in Philadelphia, he had already trained with 76 people. He didn't think that those NBA players could defend themselves. To a large extent, it was true.
Bobby Max (1995-2015, served in the management of the Nets): At that time, the team could let players with less than three years of experience participate in the rookie trial. So I asked Ed Obanon and Khalid Reeves to come over. Ed just finished his rookie season and won the National Best Award in UCLA. As a result, Kobe completely dominated them. They didn't take Kobe seriously at all, until he blew them up, you can see that they didn't react when they were half way through the trial.
Hessler : His father is a very casual and amiable person. He is always laughing and not so competitive. But Kobe is different, and this passion in his character comes from his mother Pam, who is the boss of the family.
Joe Calburn (From 1995 to 2004, he served as Kobe's physical fitness coach): I participated in his trial training in the Nets once, and Cali Parry's expression was shocked from beginning to end. "My God," he would say, "Let me see your three points," and then Kobe would easily shoot three points. Then Caliparry said, "Let's take a few back steps." Brush hit. "Another few backward steps." Another brush hit. "Enough, I've seen enough." Then he seemed to say to himself, "This guy is next Jordan I must take him down. "
Max : We should promise him on the spot, ban his feet and put him in the witness protection procedure until the draft. After the trial, the team should be responsible for the players' travel. We have a rule that players over 6 '8 "can fly first class. Kobe Bryant is not up to the standard. I asked the staff at the boarding gate everywhere for a middle seat, but there was none. I remember thinking at that time, who cares about this? He is only a 17-year-old child, which is too bad. I remember being scolded by Arne Trump. It's funny to think about now, but believe me, it wasn't funny at all.
Hessler : I went to Chicago to report on the trial training conference that year. When I walked into the Chicago Marriott Hotel, I looked up and saw Kobe standing on the mezzanine platform and looking into the lobby. I introduced myself and told him that I knew his father. He said that he would finally go to Los Angeles to test for the Lakers. He looked like a child far from home. I can't say he is shy, but he is a little introverted. It's easy to talk and looks lonely. The first thought I saw was: Can he play a good job?
Mickey Kupchak (General Manager of the Lakers from 1994 to 2017): We all know who he is. He participated in the McDonald's High School Competition, but we didn't see many reports about that competition. His performance was very mediocre.
Hessler : Even Arne didn't see his potential. He is also from Philadelphia. Kobe is one of his customers. He has a good relationship with Jerry. Jerry has a good eye for people. He doesn't have to ask many people for advice on which player he thinks is good. He just can see it.
John Black (Vice President of Public Relations of the Lakers from 1989 to 2017): Jerry obviously has a talent for evaluation. In the draft that year, I was the designated team representative of the Lakers, responsible for communicating with the team in Los Angeles on the spot. We have the No. 24 signature in our hand, and we decided to choose between Derek Fisher and Jerome Williams, the 6-9 forward of Georgetown. When it was our turn, we had three minutes to wait. Jerry and I called hands-free, and he asked everyone in the office who to choose. Time is running out. There are still two minutes, one minute and 30 seconds left. Everyone said to choose Williams. The NBA people stood beside me and waited. With 10 seconds left, I could hear the people around Jerry calling Williams' name. And I said, "Jerry, when the time comes, who shall we choose?" He said, "John, we shall choose Derek Fischer."
Jerry West (From 1982 to 2000, he was a senior manager of the Lakers): "I didn't arrange the trial training. It was done by Kobe's agent Arne Trump. We are old friends. He said that Kobe came to Los Angeles to shoot advertisements. I saw his video, but I never saw him play in high school. I know his father, and I know Kobe's life story very well, but selecting a high school student guard was really beyond my consideration."
Black One day I was sitting in the office of the Forum Arena when Jerry put his head out and said, "Hey, come here, we are going to have a trial training, and you have to come and see the child!" The stadium of the Forum Arena will not be torn down during the off-season, because there will be concerts, ice hockey matches, competitive performances, etc, We usually have a trial training in Yinggwood High School or Yinggwood YMCA Stadium - it's only a minute's drive from the Forum Stadium. I thought Jerry came to see me just to socialize and show me something interesting. I know who the team is following, and Kobe is not one of them. Jerry probably just let me go for a walk.
Ryan West (The son of Jerry West, served in the management of the Lakers from 2009 to 2019): The conditions of the YMCA Stadium in Inglewood are not good, and it may be 30 years old. The venue is very small, the size of the venue is not standard, but the atmosphere is very comfortable. I read a lot of reports about the trial training, and many of the information was inaccurate. As time goes by, people always confuse the time sequence and place. But I remember it very clearly, because I drove Kobe to test. The first thing that was confused was about Michael Cooper. He took part in the first trial training. Another mistake was that it was at Inglewood High School. I walked into the gate of the YMCA Stadium in Inglewood with Kobe that day, and I remember it very clearly.
Kupchak : Now there will be trainers, physical fitness coaches, sports scientists, recorders and other staff present in the trial training. But the trial training at that time was not so formal. I'm not even sure we gave him a rebounder.
Ryan West At the beginning, they asked Kobe to do some regular exercises, and Kobe would dunk every time. My father interrupted the training and said, "Kobe, we all know you can dunk. Let's see what else you can do." He didn't want to see Kobe dunk every time. My father wants to simulate the actual combat and see how the players react, how they pull, hook and throw. Kobe has mastered every scoring method.
Black : Cooper was 40 years old at that time. Although he retired for several years, he was still in good condition. Cooper, 40, is like 25. Larry Bird once said that Cooper is the most difficult opponent and the most tenacious defender in his career. Jerry told him, "Don't be merciful to the boy. Let him try his best."
Michael Cooper (Lakers guard 1978-1990): Seriously, I thought I would teach him a lesson in the trial. I think so. I don't care how old I am. I certainly won't let some guys do what they want.
But as a result, I was forced to recognize the reality so quickly. So soon I found that 40 and 17 could not be compared. At the beginning, I put my hand in his face. General players hate this kind of defense, especially young players. But he flew out of my hand, as if I didn't exist at all. I thought he was not so strong, he would be scared away. I think of Charlotte's 19-year-old kid, Ramelo Bauer - I like him very much, and this metaphor may not be fair to him - how pitiful he was when he first entered the NBA. Kobe Bryant at that age is no longer a small figure.
Calburn The criticism Kobe faced in high school was that he might be too thin. I met him in the summer of 1995. He was training all that year and gained 10 to 15 pounds of muscle. The first stop of his trial training was the Nets. At that time, the general manager of the Nets, Willis Reid (how big his hand was), grabbed Kobe's arm, shook him and said, "Well, he is not so thin."
Black Kobe will not be intimidated by anyone, even if he is only 17 years old. There is no compliance in Kobe's dictionary. Michael did his best, but Kobe did whatever he wanted and completely destroyed him.
Raymond Ryder (Now the senior vice president of the Warriors Communications Department, PR of the Lakers from 1990 to 1998): I seem to see Michael Jordan. Kobe's every move is like Jordan's: backward jump shot, dribbling between legs, sticking out his tongue - he had polished every movement belonging to Jordan perfectly when he was 17 years old.
Cooper Jerry wants to see something specific. The important point is: Is it possible for him to find a position? Great players always have a comfort point. The position and the angle of shooting are very important in the game. You may not always score goals, but when you reach that position, you will feel that you can score eight or nine goals with 10 shots here. Jerry always asks him to shoot at a specific position, and he can't miss an inch. Even the most powerful scorer can't find that position by running directly from point A to point B. Sometimes it takes several rounds to get the rhythm. This is the first thing I admire Kobe. Just like defending Byrd, Dr. J and young Jordan, facing this young man who just graduated from high school, I had to stop him from reaching some positions on the court. If he found a position, he would be able to hit 9 out of 10.
Ryan West They asked Kobe to complete a kind of pick and roll tactics, let him be the ball holder, and he passed me a beautiful ball, I ran to the basket, but did not score, especially embarrassed.
Cooper Once Kobe faced me in a deep position after covering, and I was under the cover. The NBA's top scorer will think that if the defense is below the screen, he can drive the ball around the pick and roll jump shot once. Of course, he may shoot, but this kind of ball is what defenders want to see. Kobe got off the screen, made a fake move, and lied to me to jump up, which gave him room to break through - one step, two steps, dribble - to reach the elbow, take off and hit. Then we went to the left and he did the same thing again.
Ryder He wants to beat Cooper with various tricks. He had this mentality from the first day, which can be seen in that trial. At the age of 17, he has the spirit of Mamba.
It is said that in the middle of the trial, the atmosphere on the court became more and more intense. Kobe Bryant and Cooper sprayed garbage on each other and kept elbowing each other. After all, Kobe Bryant is famous for humiliating his opponents regardless of everything in a single fight, whether it is to teammates, coaches, or even friends. But the fact is that Kobe Bryant completely ruled in that trial, and was also extremely ruthless (he once scored 12 goals in a row on the sidelines), so the trial was not fierce at all.
In the week of Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant had already started shooting his first advertisement. Even if he is a minor, he is already so good at building his own brand and creating his own mythical narrative. He was a Lakers fan when he was young. He knew who Cooper was. More importantly, he also knew what insiders would say if he destroyed one of the most famous defenders in NBA history when he first came to Los Angeles. So Kobe said nothing. He knew how loud his voice was in this trial training. In fact, the only person with a big mouth that day was former Lakers star Norm Nixon. He shouted to Cooper in the stands, "Hit him! Hit him!" It was no use shouting. Later, Nixon walked up to his old friend and whispered, "This child just abused you."
Cooper : He once kicked me in the lower body, and I was very angry. But nothing else. I hit him with my forearm elbow, and he immediately responded. Once I hit his kidney hard. It was very dirty because he kept hitting me with his back and I hit him with my elbow. It can be seen that he is in pain. I said to him, "Excuse me," and he was very focused and said, "It doesn't matter, coach, continue." When he elbowed me, he would also say sorry, and I said, "Don't treat me as an old man." But Kobe didn't say garbage, which is a good thing. Jerry hates garbage. He always asks what is the meaning of laughing with the enemy and why he should talk to them when he should abuse his opponent. At that time, Kobe had only one thing in his eyes: he wanted to play for the Lakers.
Jerry West He has "that" on him. LeBron James and Magic Johnson all have that thing. Kobe has, you can see it, you can feel it.
Cooper Jerry lifted all restrictions when we moved to the restricted area. Kobe doesn't have to reach a particular position or score in some way. So I don't know what he will do, let him kill me. Left hook, a turn and jump shot with dribble, and the kind of small test step, the kind of back hit like MJ, shaking people and then leaning back. He just scored one goal after another.
Ryder : Speaking of that day, the picture that always came to my mind was that Kobe Bryant hit Cooper with his back, kept shooting those backward mid shots, stretched out his tongue, and scored on the sideline, at the free throw line, at the elbow, and in various places.
Calburn : As a teenager, Kobe has already practiced the 10000 hour rule. In high school, he went to Saint Joseph for training on Saturday, and I picked up rebounds for him when shooting. The lady in charge of the operation shouted "Closed" when he just started. Then, without any warning, the lights of the stadium went out. I stood in the dark with the ball, thinking that the training would end, but Kobe shouted, "Give me the ball!" He shouted too loudly, and I was a little scared. But I gave him the ball, and he continued to shoot the basket in the dark for half an hour.
Black : I don't remember whether he scored 10 in a row or more. But I know Cooper very well. He is a very proud man and must regard Jerry's request as a challenge. He wants to lock Kobe. I don't want to speak for him, but I think he was ashamed of Kobe's performance that day.
Kupchak : At the age of 17, he was so skilful when facing one of the strongest defenders in history.
Cooper : When I forced him to choose a bad shot, he just smiled and hit steadily.
Ryder : I can't believe everything in front of me. Only about 20 minutes later, Jerry stood up. I will never forget what he said: "Come on, I've seen enough. This boy is better than all the people in our team."
Jerry West At that time, he was already very talented in technology. The trial was impressive. To be honest, it was much more than I expected. My sense of smell became sharp, and I felt that the child was really strong. But we only have the 24th signature in our hands. I just think that we can't choose him.
Ryan West Larry Drew was the Lakers assistant at that time. Someone asked him what he thought of the trial training that day, but I never forgot his words. He said, "His people are the truth."
When they left the stadium, Jerry West joked to the exhausted Cooper, "I thought you would defend him?"
Jerry West Cooper is a good man. I teased him hard. He is just old. I told him, "You are too old, and that guy is too strong." No matter who Kobe's trial opponent is, he will be the strongest one on the court.
Kupchak : His level of obsession with competition is rare among young players. The crazy fighting spirit itself is rare, and now we see it in a 17-year-old boy.
Cooper : I may have participated in the trial for 20 to 30 minutes, but it was like playing seven series games with Celtics again, as if I had just played against Byrd and Dennis Johnson. My body aches terribly.
Coincidentally, when Kobe tried for the Celtics a few weeks ago, it was Assistant Coach Johnson, Cooper's sworn enemy. The result is similar, old lose to young. In that trial training, especially in the interview with the team's executives, Kobe surprised the Green Army, all the way to President Reed Alback himself. The most painful part of this trial for Kobe Bryant, who has always been loyal to the Lakers since his childhood, is that he needs to wear Celtic training clothes. Kobe Bryant and West are very similar on this issue: West lost to the Celtics six times in the finals, and even did not allow any green goods to appear at home.
Cooper After the trial training, I was sweating all over. Jerry leaned over and asked, "Cooper, what do you think?" I said, "Jerry, he is really too strong." Jerry immediately said, "He is ours." I will never forget that sentence: "This child is what I want." After that, everyone said: We will choose him, he is our man. Thank God we have.
Jerry West : After seeing such a trial, there is nothing to choose from the draft. I remember I said to Jerry Buss, "He is the best in this draft." I was serious. I would like to select Kobe Bryant as the No. 1 player. beyond all doubt. Not to mention the desire to win or lose, he also has this ability. He never wants to stop playing.
Ryan West : The funny thing after the trial training is that we drove back to Santa Monica. He wanted to find an empty stadium to continue playing, and tried to persuade me to drive him to find a field game. I finally said, "Kobe, you are now preparing for the draft, and I'm not sure whether you should take the risk of injury." But I know that even if you leave him in the hotel, he will find a place to continue playing.
Ryder We jumped into Jerry's car, and everyone could hardly believe what they had just witnessed.
Black I remember Jerry drove a Mercedes Benz, and he kept saying in the car, "This is the best test I've ever seen."
But that soon expired. A few days later, Kobe Bryant was still shooting ads in Los Angeles, and the Lakers invited him to try again. This time, the sparring partner was Don Jones, a 6-foot-8, 220 pound power forward who had just led Mississippi State University to the final quarter finals and was considered to be able to enter the first round.
Hessler That's a big strong man. Before the trial, the Lakers may feel that Downer Jones has a good chance to teach Kobe a lesson.
Ryan West They were extremely satisfied with Kobe's performance against Cooper in the first trial. In the second trial, they wanted to verify whether Kobe could match his talent of adapting to the NBA. Jones is physically strong, but Kobe can still abuse him. Jones tried to bully him inside at first, but Kobe blocked his hook. The second trial was even better than the first one, and my father began to have a crush on Kobe.
Kupchak After the trial training, we went to Jiasaibaiwei to have lunch with Arne. Kobe and Ryan are sitting at the other table, talking or playing games. That store has an outdoor dining area, which is more private, because Jerry will be recognized in most places in Los Angeles. Kobe is good. Nobody knows him.
Ryder Jerry eats super fast, the fastest in the world. Whether it's a sandwich or a burrito, he can swallow it in a few minutes and then return to the car. Jerry ate faster that day because he was anxious to return to the Forum Arena to find a way to trade the boy to the Lakers.
Ryan West : The second time I sent Kobe back to the hotel, it seemed to me that it was already a perfect marriage. The Lakers are fascinated by him from top to bottom. He came to Los Angeles and became a Laker. They complement each other. The draft is only a few weeks away, and the Lakers want him at all costs. When Kobe got out of the car, he said, "I don't know if I can see you again." I winked at him and said, "I feel we will see each other soon."
Hessler Before going to the West to try out for the Lakers, Kobe Bryant had no problem going to the Nets. Now he has gone for a ride with Ryan West and had dinner at West's home. He is already a member of the Lakers family. This is the most important point in the whole thing: every team that tried Kobe - Clippers, Suns, etc. - said that Kobe's performance was the best they had ever seen, and immediately began to prepare for him. But at that time, Kobe Bryant had decided to come to the Lakers. He didn't want to go to other teams. What the Lakers need to do most is to shake the Nets.
After gorging on lunch, Jerry West drew up a plan. Since the Lakers have only signed on the 24th, he should give priority to how to attract free agent Shaquille O'Neal to the Lakers. West must send center Divac away and clean up his salary of 4.7 million yuan to sign Shaquille O'Neal at the price of 120 million yuan for seven years. Then, to win Kobe Bryant, the Lakers have to trade up in the draft, which is much more important. West later wrote that his stress was so great that he "broke down and went to the hospital for several days because of overwork".
Starting with the Raptors with the No. 2 signature, West took Divac as a bargaining chip and contacted all the subsequent teams. In the end, the Hornets, with the No. 13 signing, took the bait, and they agreed to trade Kobe's draft right to Divac, as long as Kobe was not selected at that time. Trump and the Kobe family worked hard to ensure that he would not be selected before that.
Marquez At this time, the parents of the Lakers, Arne and Kobe joined hands, making it very difficult for us to do. Arne has the upper hand. The Nets are afraid to choose Kobe Bryant and he will not play. Is this the way to start the NBA coaching career? On the night before the draft, we met Arne and Kobe's parents at the Radisson Hotel in Sicox. Calipari's suite is on the top floor. Before meeting, Kobe was still our first choice. After meeting, everything changed.
The draft was held at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Cali Parry preferred to sign No. 8 to select Kobe Bryant, but his view on the secret war before the draft was too naive. Tellem called him to warn him that Kobe would definitely go to Los Angeles. If the Nets chose him, he would refuse to play, or go to Italy. He told Caliparry not to mess up, or you will pay the price. Kobe also called to emphasize this point. But the best excuse he could think of was that he didn't want to play near his hometown. Kalipari's annual salary in the Nets is 3 million yuan, and he has the final say in basketball decisions. The management of the Nets begged him not to be fooled. At the same time, David Falk, the gold medal agent, was also pressing Caliparry to choose his client, Kerry Kiters.
It can be said that on the draft day of 1996, Kobe Bryant abused Caliparry worse than Cooper.
Kupchak : One factor considered by many general managers, especially the head coach, is whether the team really needs to wait three or five years for the growth of potential new players? Therefore, Jerry's sense of Kobe's talent and his gamble in uncertain circumstances are very powerful (I'm not sure that courage is an appropriate adjective). Just believe in your own eyes, but this is not easy to do. See what is the same thing, but the reality is constantly reminding you: don't believe your eyes, this child is only 17 years old. It's easy to deny Kobe's maturity and think that he is just a talented child. No one knows what he will grow up to be. Generally speaking, this is an easy and normal evaluation method.
The noisy Continental Airlines Arena echoed the speech of President David Stern. After welcoming everyone, he announced: "The 76 Philadelphia players with the No. 1 NBA draft signing in 1996 chose Allen Iverson from Georgetown University."
Ryan West : The atmosphere in the situation room of the Lakers draft that year was extremely tense. They believe Kobe Bryant will fall to 13th, but only if the Nets don't need No. 8 to sign him.
As the Lakers scouts held their breath in Los Angeles, the choices of the teams since then were projected on the huge IBM screen. Marcus Camby was selected by the Raptors, followed by Sharif Abdul Rahim, Stephen Marbury and Ray Allen. The Celtics and Clippers hold the No. 6 and No. 7 signatures respectively. The Lakers know that they are very interested in Kobe Bryant, so when the Celtics choose Antoine Walker and the Clippers pick out Lorenzo Wright, they can hear the voice of relief in the room. Then came the Nets. Will Cali Parry back down?
Ryan West When Stern announced that the Nets chose Kerry Kites, the whole room was filled with joy.
Just like West's plan, after that, the Hornets chose Kobe Bryant, and when the camera was on him, Kobe immediately stuck out his tongue like Jordan. "Jerry West told me today that this young man has a bright future," TNT commentator Rick Pitino said when Kobe walked onto the stage. Later that day, the Lakers announced the completion of the Kobe trade.
Jerry West The first thing I said to Jerry Buss was, "We won the best talent in this draft."
Hessler : Sun has the 15th signature, and is ready. Danny Angie was the Sun's assistant coach at that time. He tried to trade with the Warriors and got No. 11 to sign Kobe Bryant. Many years later, he was still struggling. The warrior rejected him and chose a white man from ACC (Todd Fuller). The Hornets signed Kobe Bryant on the 13th. After the Lakers announced the trade, Angie immediately understood. He told everyone in the Sun's situation room: "My God, they have Kobe and Shaq."
Kupchak : After selecting the person we want, we are too excited. But things changed immediately. At that time, the wasp did have doubts. The report leaked the news that Divac was unwilling to leave the Lakers, and the Hornets certainly felt insecure. Jerry and I had a long talk with Bob Bass, the general manager of Hornet. The deal has been negotiated. Jerry has always had a good relationship with Hornet, but we can't be angry because of this, because in that context, they can be forgiven for being angry. They can say, "You are too stupid to trade with you." We must communicate well and tell Bob, "Trade is trade." But we should also be careful, After all, nothing is done. Anyway, those days are just like a roller coaster.
Specifically, 15 days. At first, Divac threatened to retire, but after visiting Charlotte (plus no trade veto), he made a concession. At the same time, wasps are also unwilling to bet their future on one child. The trade was completed on July 11, because Kobe Bryant was still under age and had to be accompanied by his parents to sign a contract with the Lakers. A week later, Shaq signed with the Lakers.
Jerry West After we introduced Shaq, the first thing I told him was, "We now have one of the best new stars in the league, and he will become a superstar."
Kobe Bryant and Shaq have worked together in the Lakers for eight seasons, and won three consecutive championships between 2000 and 2002. Kobe Bryant won the championship again in 2009 and 2010, and retired in 2016. On January 26, 2020, Kobe died in a helicopter accident. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in August and will officially receive this honor in May this year.
Jerry West : The first trial training was like watching Pavarotti's performance. He is a basketball genius. We are lucky to get him, and it is also lucky for Los Angeles fans to see the performance of one of the greatest players. Kobe's career would have been more successful off the court than on the court. When he left the world, I had never seen people all over the world suffer so much. Those days will always be remembered by the sports world, including the day of trial training.
Ryan West In Kobe's last season, after he officially announced his retirement, I was still working for the Lakers. The team also used the old stadium for training, where all the pre draft trial videos were kept. I want a copy of Kobe's trial video as a collection, which I have participated in and which I am willing to leave to future generations. We recorded videos of each trial, but we couldn't find Kobe's one. I don't know where I put it. I guess the editor put it away. Anyhow, it must be in the hands of someone.
Ryder It was an incredible day and I will never forget it. How to work hard, how to get ready, how to want to be the best, its influence on me continues to this day. Jerry, John, Mitch and I, as long as we get together, we will talk about the trial training in a few words, because it gives us too deep memories. Over the years, I left the Lakers and went to Warriors. But every time I met the Lakers and Kobe, I would go to the locker room to greet him. I always said to him, "Kobe, don't forget, I've been here since the first day." And we would smile at each other.
Max The Nets met the Lakers in the 2002 NBA Finals. After we were swept, I walked into the alley of the stadium. Kobe passed me by, but turned around and said, "Hey, you know, I will come here to play (if selected)." I believe his words. We shouldn't have let him on that plane in the first place.
Hessler His boldness on the court is amazing. You can't imagine him doing so many things. Now it seems that he was the one who changed the NBA in 1996, and the league has revolved around him for 15 years since then.
Cooper : The last time I saw him was when the lone ranger came to play away. He took his daughter Jiji to watch the game. He is wearing an orange hoodie. I met him before the game and he asked me how I was doing. I didn't watch the game later. Instead, I watched how he enjoyed the game with his daughter. When he stood up and left, the fans shouted wildly. That was the last time I saw him. Now he's gone, but I still have the memory of that trial. Everything about him, everything about his game, was in that trial.
Hessler : Perhaps the most fascinating part of the whole story is that it was an accident out and out. The Lakers changed the future of the NBA and everything when they saw Kobe Bryant in that trial.
Ryan West People always ask me which is the greatest sporting event I have ever witnessed. I always say that it was Kobe's last game with 60 points. The way he left was unbelievable. Nothing could match him.
Before the game started, I went into the locker room and hugged him. I wanted to cry so much that I almost cried. I don't know what to say to him. I can't say anything. Then he said, "I will never forget the day when I first drove on 405 with you."
In the last five minutes of that game, he threw the ball to make the Lakers surpass, just like the script of the movie. The script was doomed from the first day. I watched the 17-year-old throw the same ball in the stadium alone. Twenty years later, I watched him do the same thing. But he has become the biggest star in the NBA, won five championships, and will retire. I always stood in front of my seat and watched, and I swore that at some moment I felt I had returned to the trial at Inglewood. It's as beautiful as a poem.
