Heading into the 1996 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Lakers had a deal in place to send center Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets for the No. 13 pick, which the Hornets would use on a 17-year-old from the Philadelphia suburbs named Kobe Bryant. But one team threatened to ruin all that — not to mention the Lakers’ fortunes.
The New Jersey Nets had the No. 8 pick, and John Nash, their general manager, badly wanted Bryant. But John Calipari, their head coach, decided to take a guard from Villanova University named Kerry Kittles. Just like that, it was ensured that the Lakers would get arguably the greatest player in their history.
According to Deadline, there is a new biopic about the “Black Mamba” in the works. It will focus on the Nets’ failed quest to land him in the 1996 draft.
Via Deadline:
“We’ve confirmed that Alex Sohn and Gavin Johannsen‘s spec screenplay With the 8th Pick, about the behind-the-scenes 1996 NBA drafting of Kobe Bryant, has landed at Warner Bros. There is no director attached as of yet.
“The project is told from the point of view of John Nash, the general manager of the New Jersey Nets, and incoming Nets coach John Calipari, who really wanted Bryant. However, the New Jersey was a broke organization, and Bryant was an L.A. Lakers fan. Not to mention, Bryant’s sneaker deal with Adidas would be worth more with the Lakers than had he signed with the Nets.
“Bryant was being courted to become Calipari’s first NBA draft pick, a move that could have changed the course of the NBA forever. It’s being described as Social Network meets Air meets Moneyball with a thriller bent.”
According to Jeff Pearlman’s book “Three-Ring Circus,” Arn Tellem, Bryant’s agent at the time, told Calipari that if the Nets were to take Bryant, Bryant would hold out because he didn’t want to be that close to home. There were undoubtedly other factors at play that caused the Nets to pass on the late Hall of Famer, who would go on to win five NBA championships and score more points than any other guard in league history.
It promises to be a story of how intimidating power brokers, not to mention big money, influence personnel decisions in pro sports more than some may believe.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: A biopic about Kobe Bryant is reportedly in the works
