The Summer League is a great opportunity for future NBA stars to showcase their talents and get some publicity as they enter the big league.
Now that the 2014 Summer League is officially done, fans grabbed the opportunity to look back at amazing performances by former rookies. Particularly, current superstar Kobe Bryant was excellent during his time at the 1996 Summer League. He was the first guard drafted by the NBA directly out of high school and was only a 17-year-old player at that time.
Despite his lack of his big league experience and the intense pressure of bouncing straight to the pro league, Bryant scored 36 points while playing for the Lakers in the Summer League. He wore jersey No. 36 against the Phoenix Suns and led Los Angeles to a 107-100 win.
A video lasting 7:19 minutes featured the young Bryant in his yellow uniform. His moves were just as graceful back then, and he showcased his signature crossover and gravity-defying shots throughout the game. Judging from the video, it seems a given that he would become one of the greatest players in the NBA.
Almost twenty years later, it is now ordinary for Bryant to drop 30 or more points in a game. From that fascinating 17-year-old making a name for himself, Kobe is now an established athlete in the pros and has been dominating the NBA ever since, ultimately getting five championship rings in the process.
The fact is Bryant was already a genetically gifted athlete from the time he started his career in the NBA. He was actually drafted by the Charlotte Hornets but was immediately traded to Los Angeles, in a report by Ball Is Life. His first NBA game was against the Detroit Pistons where he scored a team high 27 points. Although his start in the NBA was not actually smooth since he broke his wrist before training camp and suffered another injury which caused him to stay on the bench during the first game of the season, he went on to become one of the biggest names in the league.
He is now in his 19th NBA season and continues to establish himself as one of the best guards in the game. He may be playing for the Los Angeles Lakers for two more seasons before hanging his jersey. Bryant has not been in an NBA game since December 2013 where he injured his knee. He is now 35 years old and recently announced that he is already 100 percent healthy.