Former NBA guard Kendall Gill shared new details about the 1996 NBA Draft and how the New Jersey Nets nearly selected Kobe Bryant before the future Hall of Famer landed with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Speaking with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson on The Pull Up with Scoop B, Gill recalled being in the room with agent Arn Tellem while the Nets debated using the No. 7 pick on Bryant. Tellem also represented Bryant and strongly opposed New Jersey drafting the teenage guard directly out of high school.
“I was right there when they were thinking about drafting Kobe,” Gill said. “Arn is on the phone with John Calipari and he’s saying, ‘Look. We’re going to take Kobe at the 7th pick…’”
Gill explained that Tellem warned the Nets that Bryant would go overseas rather than play for the franchise. According to Gill, the Lakers already had a deal lined up with the Charlotte Hornets involving Vlade Divac and Bryant’s draft rights.
When the Nets ultimately selected Kerry Kittles out of Villanova, Gill said the room immediately calmed down.
“Kerry turned out to be great and a great player for the franchise,” Gill said. “But that’s not what the New Jersey Nets wanted to do at that time.”
Kittles went on to make the NBA All-Rookie Team, while Bryant developed into one of the league’s defining players. The five-time NBA champion spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers and became an 18-time All-Star.
Gill also reflected on another career moment involving Bryant and the Lakers years later. After Los Angeles won its first championship of the Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal era in 2000, Gill nearly signed with the organization in free agency.
The former guard said he had already agreed to a deal with the Lakers and was preparing for a press conference with then-general manager Mitch Kupchak before receiving a last-minute call from New Jersey ownership.
According to Gill, the Nets offered him a one-year contract worth $7 million, while the Lakers’ deal was valued at $5.5 million over two years.
“I had to make a business decision,” Gill said. “But if I had to do that decision all over again, I probably would’ve signed with the Lakers.”
Gill’s interview also revisited several stops from his 15-year NBA career, including his time with the Seattle SuperSonics, Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat.
He described his years in Seattle as “bittersweet,” praising teammates such as Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp while openly criticizing former coach George Karl.
Gill also called leaving Charlotte in free agency one of the biggest regrets of his career. The early-1990s Hornets teams featuring Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson and Muggsy Bogues became one of the league’s most recognizable groups because of their young core and iconic teal uniforms.
