In the spring of 1996, the Los Angeles Clippers had the seventh overall pick in the NBA Draft. They aimed to acquire the rights to the next face of their franchise, particularly a prospect who could contribute immediately. They had the ideal size to boost their roster.
While the team led by then-head coach Bill Fitch, along with his assistants Barry Hecker and Jim Brewer, conducted workouts, they weren’t impressed by the highly touted candidates in that Draft class but rather by Kobe Bryant. A 17-year-old from Lower Merion High School, who perfected the most crucial drill of the pre-draft workout.
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“It’s like seeing a beautiful woman, it’s like, ‘Holy mackerel, this guy,'” said Hecker via the “Los Angeles Times.” “He had the size and had the confidence, even then. He was special, you could tell. But again, that was a scary place and especially for a young player. There wasn’t anybody on our team to mentor him.”
What was the most crucial drill of the workout?
The traditional drill that the Clippers required their draft prospects to do was called the “basket per minute” workout. In this drill, the participant shoots on the left and right sides of the basket with both hands, with the goal of making as many shots as possible in 60 seconds.
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Their version of the Mikan drill evaluates the players’ quick feet, close-range finishing with both hands, rebounding, and body control around the basket.
To their surprise, Bryant did it so well that he overlapped Larry Bird, who did the drill in 1978 at the age of 23. To this day, Fitch said that Bryant still holds the best record.
“He dunked it with his left hand, he dunked it with his right hand, it was like bang-bang-bang-bang-bang — it was like a pogo stick,” Hecker said. “It was so quick and so explosive and I just remember that look of Jim and I. We just looked at each other and said, ‘Jesus Christ, this is wild.’ You don’t often see something like that.”
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Kobe’s tactic was simple. Instead of laying the ball up like most prospects do, he decided to dunk as much as possible. This tactic had never been done before, and knowing that a 17-year-old did it speaks a lot about his high basketball IQ and instincts even before he stepped foot in the NBA.
The Clippers didn’t draft Kobe
Despite leaving an outstanding impression, the Clippers opted not to use their seventh overall pick on Bryant because they feared that he was too young and inexperienced to turn the franchise around right away.
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Years later, Finch admitted to the media that he told Bryant after the workout that he didn’t want him to play for the organization because his career wouldn’t have turned out how Bryant wanted it to. Even if Fitch and the staff told the Black Mamba that he had given them the best workout they had ever seen, they made it clear that they wouldn’t draft him as well because the city of Los Angeles wouldn’t have taken them seriously.
This decision obviously set the Clippers back for years and, even worse, benefited their inter-city rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, who got five championships thanks to him. The decision not to draft the Lakers legend ended up becoming one of, if not the worst, moves in Clippers history and the best possible outcome for Kobe.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 1, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.