A few months before getting drafted in 1996, 17-year-old Kobe Bryant shocked the media. One ESPN reporter commented in aghast against Kobe’s attitude and arrogance. While just a high-school senior at Merion High School, Philadelphia, Kobe had called a press conference to announce that he would enter the NBA draft instead of attending college. His style and way of carrying himself astounded reporters, drawing his comparisons to media images of Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.
Advertisement
In the book Three-Ring Circus by Jeff Pearlman, he recalled this incident in further detail. He mentioned how an ESPN reporter noticed Kobe’s Hollywood-like style, which compared to MJ and Chuck. Although he came off as arrogant, this would give a lasting first impression of Kobe, leaving a lasting legacy in the league.
17-year-old Kobe drew comparisons to Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley for his attitude and style
Calling a press conference is strange for a 17-year-old high school senior. Even more so when the press conference just announces their entry to the NBA draft. Kobe Bryant did that and thus left a lasting first impression on the reporters and media personnel present. At that time, the Lakers had lost Game 3 of the first-round playoffs to the Houston Rockets.
Entered a 17-year-old, shaved-headed Kobe with an oversized suit and a designer sunglass perched on top of his head. Pearlman elaborately detailed this incident in the exact scenes following Kobe entering the press conference.
“Kobe Bean Bryant—aged seventeen—walked to a table at the front of the room, unfolded into his seat, rubbed the scruff along his chin, leaned into a microphone, smiled somewhat apprehensively, and said, ‘Kobe Bryant has decided . . . to skip college and take his talents to the NBA.’ ”
This scene had the media in a frenzy. While the students present started getting crazy-shouting and clapping, the media persons were in disbelief. Jeremy Schaap from ESPN recalled:
“Here was this high school kid, and he came out dressed as if he were a member of the Rat Pack. What the heck was going on? He wore sunglasses. Sunglasses! And they may well have been drugstore shades, but they looked Armani on him. It was hard to accept the total lack of humility and the sort of Hollywood quality to it. I’d been around Michael Jordan, I’d been around Charles Barkley, but I’d never seen anything so showoffish.”
Kobe Bryant would go on to have a lasting legacy in the league
The 17-year-old kid was not kidding when he said he would take his ‘talents’ to NBA. The Lakers especially benefitted from Kobe’s talent for twenty long seasons. He was a five-time NBA champion with the Lakers, with the highlight especially being winning a three-peat from 2000-2002.
Kobe Bryant died in 2020, along with his daughter Gianna and seven others, in a helicopter crash in California. Although Kobe’s death was a tragic incident and a huge shock to the NBA world, he has left a lasting impact on the league and the game. The All-Star MVP award is named the Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP in his honor.
