<P> The first guard to ever be taken out of high school , Bryant was chosen as the 13th overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996 . According to Arn Tellem , Bryant 's agent at the time , Bryant playing for the Charlotte Hornets was `` an impossibility '' . However , Bill Branch , the Hornets ' head scout at the time , said that the Hornets agreed to trade their draft selection to the Los Angeles Lakers before picking Bryant . The teams agreed to the trade the day before the draft and the Lakers told the Hornets whom to select five minutes before the pick was made . Branch said that prior to the trade agreement , the Hornets never even considered drafting Bryant . Prior to the draft , Bryant had worked out in Los Angeles , where he scrimmaged against former Lakers players Larry Drew and Michael Cooper and , according to then - Laker manager Jerry West , `` marched over these people '' . On July 1 , 1996 , West traded his starting center , Vlade Divac , to the Hornets in exchange for Bryant 's draft rights . Since he was still 17 at the time of the draft , his parents had to cosign his contract with the Lakers until he was able to sign his own when he turned 18 before the season began . </P>
<P> The first guard to ever be taken out of high school , Bryant was chosen as the 13th overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996 . According to Arn Tellem , Bryant 's agent at the time , Bryant playing for the Charlotte Hornets was `` an impossibility '' . However , Bill Branch , the Hornets ' head scout at the time , said that the Hornets agreed to trade their draft selection to the Los Angeles Lakers before picking Bryant . The teams agreed to the trade the day before the draft and the Lakers told the Hornets whom to select five minutes before the pick was made . Branch said that prior to the trade agreement , the Hornets never even considered drafting Bryant . Prior to the draft , Bryant had worked out in Los Angeles , where he scrimmaged against former Lakers players Larry Drew and Michael Cooper and , according to then - Laker manager Jerry West , `` marched over these people '' . On July 1 , 1996 , West traded his starting center , Vlade Divac , to the Hornets in exchange for Bryant 's draft rights . Since he was still 17 at the time of the draft , his parents had to cosign his contract with the Lakers until he was able to sign his own when he turned 18 before the season began . </P>
when did kobe bryant start in the nba
when did kobe bryant start in the nba
1996
1996