Vlade Divac nearly changed the course of NBA history. In 1996, the Lakers agreed to send Divac to the Hornets in exchange for the rights to Kobe Bryant, then a high-school prospect whom the Hornets didn’t think would be able to crack their rotation. The money freed up by that trade allowed the Lakers to pony up the cash to bring in Shaquille O’Neal, and the rest is history.
Bryant and O’Neal eventually won three rings together – Kobe would win two more with Pau Gasol – and he’d go on to be arguably the greatest shooting guard of all-time not named Michael Jordan. However if Divac had stuck to his guns, Bryant might be remembered like his most famous rival Tracy McGrady.
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“I told my agent that I am not going to Charlotte. I loved L.A. I loved the Lakers. For every kid that played basketball, it was basketball heaven being with Magic and the other guys,” Divac told Yahoo. It was then-GM Jerry West who convinced Divac to give Charlotte a chance, and accept the trade. But if he hadn’t, Kobe would have joined a roster that featured Anthony Mason, Muggsy Bogues, Dell Curry and Glen Rice, and probably been good enough to make noise, but not deep enough for a title run.
The beginning of Bryant’s career would have been eerily similar to McGrady’s in Toronto. With Curry and reserve Ricky Pierce already on the team, Bryant’s minutes would have been severely limited. Those two guards averaged 26.8 points combined, so there was no reason to disturb their flow. Eventually, Bryant would have broken into the rotation, but there’s no telling what his ceiling or floor would have been without Shaq in the picture. Because of Shaq, Bryant was not the focus of any opposing defense, despite his obvious greatness. In Charlotte, without a dominant big man, Kobe may have developed the reputation of a gunner with no conscience, rather than a clutch assassin.
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McGrady was drafted in 1997, and spent years on the Raptors stuck behind Damon Stoudemire, Chauncey Billups and Doug Christie. He would go on to star for the Magic for four years, but never got beyond the first round until the 2008-09 season with the Rockets. Even then, McGrady was on injured reserve when they advanced.
Bryant had far more longevity than McGrady did because T-Mac’s health failed him, but in their primes the two were very similar both statistically and in style. Without Shaq and the Lakers to help him along, it’s possible they’d be remembered as equals.
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