Kobe Bryant is one of the best players to ever step on a basketball court and for close to 20 years, he played with the Los Angeles Lakers. It's almost unfathomable to think Kobe could have played with any other team although many forget he was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets. Bryant's tenure with the team was short-lived as he was immediately traded to the Lakers on the day he was drafted.
During a recent appearance on the Knuckleheads podcast, Bryant spoke about what it was like being traded and how he was disrespected by the GM of the Hornets, Bob Bass. Bass came across pretty salty over trading Bryant and had some interesting words for him while delivering the news he was going to Los Angeles.
We couldn’t have used you anyway,” Bass told Kobe. As you can imagine, Bryant was pretty shocked by the comments and they ended up motivating him. “I was triggered. I was ready to go to the gym.”
In the end, Kobe got the last laugh as he went on to win five NBA championships while the Hornets have been irrelevant for decades. Despite being owned by Michael Jordan, the Hornets have yet to find success and are headed into yet another rebuild. Having said all that, we're sure Bryant is happy with how things turned out.
[Via]