17 .Kobe didn’t get cut from his varsity team
Kobe Bryant was a superstar even in high school. In a time that was far from the days of LeBron James being gifted hummers and Kwame Brown going #1 overall. In these days, a player jumping from high school to the pros was far less common, if not for the culture of the time.
Bryant was a star of the state of Pennsylvania and even held a press conference announcing his decision to turn pro.
Meanwhile, the notorious story of Jordan’s high school days were that he was cut from his basketball team his freshman year! While this also could be attributed to the coach and his (questionable) decision-making, we know that Kobe Bryant was never cut from his high school team. Sure MJ used it as motivation, but Bryant instead just dominated high school for four years en route to the NBA.
Similarly….
16. Kobe went to the NBA straight out of high school, Jordan needed college
After dominating the high school game, Bryant was talented enough to go straight to the NBA after shortly pondering college, eventually being drafted 13th overall by the Charlotte Hornets before being traded to the Lakers.
Jordan, on the other hand, needed college to better his game, and did so under the best college coach at the time in Dean Smith with UNC. After three years in ACC, Jordan finally did go to the NBA as the #3 pick, but his rise to stardom wasn’t nearly as impressive.
Next: Kobe's All-Star Success vs. Michael Jordan's