Former NBA Champion Says He Convinced Kobe Bryant to Skip College

The former champion says that he is the reason that Kobe Bryant went straight to the NBA instead of going to college.

Dec 18, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Kobe Bryant addresses the Staples Center crowd during a halftime ceremony to retire his two uniforms numbers, 8 and 24. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Part of what made Kobe Bryant so great while he played for the Los Angeles Lakers is that he jumped right in from high school. He is perhaps the second-most famous player to go straight from high school to the NBA.

Only LeBron James is a more famous example. Still, what Bryant did coming out of high school is something that no one thought he could do.

Bryant showed that he could be an All-Star in just his second year in the league after being the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He ended his career as one of the greatest players of all time.

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No one knew that Bryant was going to be this good since he was threatening to play in Italy after coming out of high school in Philadelphia. One former player claims he was the one who actually convinced Bryant to go straight to the NBA.

Vernon Maxwell says that he is the one who was able to convince Bryant to make the big move. He said this while appearing on All The Smoke.

"This motherf*cker played just like Mike."

Vernon Maxwell admits he couldn’t guard a young Kobe Bryant when he faced him in a practice while he was in the NBA and Kobe was still in high school, and reveals he was one of the people who told Kobe to skip college and go straight to… pic.twitter.com/HL4dkD010X

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Maxwell admits that he wasn't able to guard Bryant while he was still in high school. That was his signal that Bryant should have immediately declared for the draft instead of going to college.

Declaring for the draft out of high school is one thing, but the play at the level that Bryant did is another. He also did so for one of the most iconic franchises in all of sports.

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It also took a lot of faith for the Lakers to trade for him after he was drafted by the Hornets. They had a lot of faith that he could blossom into a great player, which, of course, he did.

Maxwell wants some credit for being the guy who made it all happen. He's not the only reason why Bryant made the decision to jump straight to the league. Bryant's dad was a big influence on him, as well.

In his long career, Bryant averaged 25 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game.

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