Rookie Kobe on the Upcoming Season

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Kobe Bryant discusses his goals for the upcoming 1996-1997 season. He was always humble from a young age and willing to do whatever it takes to win. Excerpt from The Athletic’s ‘The different eras of Kobe Bryant: Kobe the rookie’ by Pete Zayas: His draft workout at Inglewood High was legendary. He dismantled Michael Cooper as a mere 17-year old, burying one fadeaway jumper after another as the former Defensive Player of the Year repeatedly took elbows to the ribs. Lakers general manager Jerry West left the experience declaring Kobe to be better than anyone the Lakers had, despite the presence of current All-Star Cedric Ceballos and future All-Stars Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones. The Lakers were trying to make a leap from first- or second-round playoff fodder to true contention and had their sights set on a 24-year old superstar free agent, Shaquille O’Neal. This was before max contracts existed. Superstars could make as much money as teams were willing to offer, so long as it adhered to salary-cap rules. As a result, West needed to clear some salaries off of the books to make the best possible contract offer to Shaq during the 1996 free-agency period. Starting center Vlade Divac made the most sense to trade, since Shaq would take his place and he was set to make $4.7 million in 1996-97 – nearly 20 percent of the projected $24.4 million salary cap for the upcoming season. Original video:    • Kobe Bryant and the ’96 LA Lakers | Trans ...   ‘The different eras of Kobe Bryant: Kobe the rookie’ by Pete Zayas: https://theathletic.com/1571330/2020/... 🏷 #kobeinterview #interview #interviewquestions #interviewtips #interviews #interviewexclusive #interviewpreparation #interviewquestion #interviewhacks #interviewforips #askingquestions #question #questions #questionanswer #questionandanswer