ESPN article on Celtics' pre-draft impression of Kobe in '96

[obnoxiousmime]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14449708/truehoop-presents-how-kobe-bryant-almost-became-boston-celtic

After reading this, I don't get the sense that the Celtics were ever close to taking Kobe despite being impressed by him. I mean, they traded up just to be in the top 6, and not to take Kobe.

This quote was telling:

"We didn't care which one of the six fell to us," Weitzman says. "We knew we would take one of them because we needed help right away and all six of those guys were prepared to help right away, whereas Kobe, we knew we'd have to wait. And you know how the NBA works -- you don't have a long leash."

Whenever you have an ownership that isn't patient and supportive of the front office, that's when you make mistakes going for the "safe" picks and short-term gain over the long-term.

[slamtheking]

doesn't surprise me Kobe wasn't on the list.  can't argue that the top 6 in that draft weren't the best options coming out that year.  what really amazes me is how many players from the draft played for the C's at one point in their careers:  (10 players that I could pick out -- that's incredible, to me anyways)
4 - Stephon Marbury
5 - Ray Allen
6 - Antoine Walker
12 - Vitaly Potapenko
16 - Tony Delk
17 - Jermaine Oneal
19 - Walter Mccarty
21 Dontae Jones
29 - Travis Knight
38 - Steve Hamer

[SHAQATTACK]

I named our cat , now deceased ,  after Kobe.