Kobe Bean Bryant, who tragically passed away on Sunday, was one of the greatest players in NBA history. Among the "Black Mamba's" accomplishments are five NBA titles, two Finals MVPsand a whopping 15 All-NBA selections. But something that many forget is Bryant was a pioneer, becoming the first guard to make a successful "preps-to-pros" jump.
Prior to Kobeentering the NBA Draft as a 17-year-old high school graduate, all of the players to jump straight to the league out of high school were big men. This list includes Reggie Harding (1963), Moses Malone (1974, ABA), Shawn Kemp (1989)and Kevin Garnett (1995). After Bryant's successful jump, we saw more elite high school guards have the confidence to make the leap to the NBA.
Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady (1997), DeShawn Stevenson (2000), JRSmith (2004)and Lou Williams (2005) are among some of the more successful guards to jump straight to the NBA post-Bryant, and without Kobe's decision back in 1996, who knows how their careers would've panned out.
Bryant also did something extremely important in proving an elite high school basketball player, who tested well enough to go tocollege, could actually be making the right decision jumping to the NBA. He was wise beyond his years, with an incredible perspective for a teen on challenges in life and greatness.
Kobe Bryant, the classmate, giving a speech in front of his class in high school pic.twitter.com/e7oigduiaG
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 29, 2020
Kobewas by all accounts an excellent student. This was a bit of a diversion from past cases of players jumping from high school to college, with many of those prospects having some struggles qualifying academically to play college basketball. And of course, along with success in the classroom, there was a great deal of success for Bryant on the court.
He got his No. 33 jersey retired at Lower Merion High School after a career in which he amassed 2,883 points, won the 1996 Pennsylvania state title, made the McDonald's All American team,and won both the Gatorade and Naismith Player of the Year awards.
High school sports have a spirit that simply cannot be replicated at any other level.
They can havethe "superstar factor" of the pro level, the fandom ofcollegehoops and a special importance only a true high school sports fan can understand. Bryant embraced challenges every step of the way along his journey, and becoming one of the greatest high school hoops stars we've ever seen at Lower Merion was the first step in his illustrious career.
