It's ONE of the reasons why he's loved by even more than just his own generation. His sometimes-brutal honesty is another. He's honest no matter what. Even at his own expense. That takes a level of humility that a lot of people don't even recognize as humility. Which is ANOTHER reason why he's so loved.
LARGE Heart is Ben Wallace The Man went undrafted and went on to Win Multiple DPOY 🥇🥇 2x 🥇🥇 Back to Back NBA Finals A Championship 🏆 HOF & most of all that …. A LARGE LIFE CHANGING PAYDAY 💰 💰💰💰💰💰💰
Allen Iverson said he looked forward to an opportunity to answer a question we've all had for almost 25 years...and this man's answer was..."I don't know." Love this dude.
I love how they titled it "Ready or Not" the name of the Fugees Hit Single also released in 1996, ALSO THE BEST YEAR OF HIP HOP HISTORY! So many CLASSIC albums released that year!
@@sonnyday6727 I was 15 in 1996, right in the thick of my Teenage years. That's actually the target audience for entertainment promotion. Because we're at the age we're can dedicate all our time into obsessing over whatever there marketing to us 😂
I’m surprised they didn’t get an interview with Peja Stojakovich. I hear he’s pretty casual in Sacramento. I would’ve liked to hear his perspective being an international player
This is easily the best and most balanced draft in the history. So much talent and specialists. You have some of the greatest scorers in NBA History with Kobe and Iverson. One of the best facilitator with 2 x MVP Steve Nash. Ray Allen and Peja Stojakovic remains as one of the deadliest shooters in all era. And this class had a playground legend in Stephon Marbury who in my opinion was the second most skilled player of the draft. Just imagine if Marbury fell into a great organization, he’d be another Hall of Famer from this group. Then the rest became either All Stars, Defensive Player of the year or were key pieces in championship teams; Marcus Camby , Jermaine O’Neal, Antoine Walker, Derek Fisher and Zydrunas Ilgauskas and though he was not drafted, 3 x DPOY and NBA Champion Ben Wallace was also part of the 1996 NBA Class. Just insanely talented and deep. Wish Kobe’s still alive. Sad we didn’t see him partake in the Top 75 NBA players anniversary and his HOF enshrinement.
Kobe was already super confident but having Jerry West be that invested in getting Kobe and saying how good he thought he was gonna be has gotta be a good feeling having the logo believe in you.
u could tell thes "young men" actually loved college and hated to leave to go to the nba... they "needed" to go to 💯% help their families etc. this was the era when u stayed average 3/4 yrs in college.. also made college ball waaaay better game to watch an root for. dang I miss those days as a kid 😊💪🏾
It’s no coincidence Kobe went to the Lakers and with Shaq The drafts are where You can really see how much there is an agreement between the teams behind the scene that the public is not and most likely will not ever be privy to Just like with the refs and putting certain refs in certain games to make sure of a certain outcome . It may not be completely scripted and they’re too smart to have to leave any trails But there’s definitely nods & handshakes that happen between owners & The League to do what’s best for the entire League so that players and everyone involved with NBA ,MLB, NFL, etc. to make sure they continue to generate the most revenue possible So players have what they have now Which is Why Mike was going to Win no matter what as long as He was playing. Mike is why NBA is what it is now Started with Magic & Bird but Mike is what BLEW That thang UP Mike was Must See TV Always
Ben Wallace was ok but he wasn't that great of a player he's not even in the same class of the rest of these guys he couldn't score 4'points if I spotted him 3 points
@@t_mfn_y Ben Wallace is a defensive beast and a 4 time DPOY, HOFer, champion and the best player of the Pistons championship team that beat the Lakers. wtf are you on? There's 2 sides to basketball. You must be the guy nobody wants to play with in the park cause you take all the shots and don't play D.
There are a lot of tear-jerking moments in this video. In fact, the whole video made me shed some tears for its nostalgic effects on me since I witnessed this happen when I was in high school and was also hoping to play basketball professionally. However, the part about Marcus Mann really made me so emotional, being the somehow religious man that I am. This is great content.
The documentary I didn’t know I had to see. I wasn’t trying to watch it, it came on after another video and I was busy to press skip. I got the chills the goosebumps and even tears numerous times throughout this. I was 16 in 96. Boy do I regret stopping collecting cards after 93 with Webber and Hardaway. I do have a few Shaq rookies though. Thanks for putting it up.
This really was an incredible draft. But even bigger - think about how HUGE the "Big East" was. It was like a golden year in college basketball. Georgetown with Iverson, Nova with Kittles, UConn with Shuttleworth ;), Wallace at Syracuse. I see some guys saying 84 and while it did give you Hakeem, Barkley, Stockton and Jordan the depth of 96 kind of sets it apart. There weren't just standouts but I think more guys that had careers in the NBA. And by 'careers', I mean they contributed to the 'annual Jordan fodder replenishment plan'.
Um, no. 1984 is the best year ever. Jordan, Olajuwon, Stockton, Barkley, plus Kevin Willis, Otis Thorpe, Alvin Robertson. You could assemble a team that could compete against any in history: Stockton-MJ-Barkley-Thorpe-Hakeem, with Willis and Robertson coming off the bench at forward and guard, respectively.
It’s crazy to see how spot on Jerry “The Logo “ West had Kobe’s back and helped him get drafted and foresaw his greatness way back then! He has the best eye for talent in the league!!
Kerry Kittles was my favorite player at the time.. I actually remember creating this draft class on (NBA live 95). You could create up to 32 players. And if you typed in a legedary players name . The game would automatically create em . For you.. #Good ole days☺️
Nice. I too got Nba live 95 - whats interesting is that I went to the shops looking to buy an NBA encyclopaedia CD I saw but then when I got there it was missing, and noticed NBA live 95 and got that instead!! What a game!!!!
Man so incredibly deep. People forget how freaking good Shareef (one of my favorite players), Antoine Walker, Peja, Camby, Marbury, Kittles, Jermaine were beyond the obvious all time legends. I have rookie cards of Kobe, AI, Antoine, Nashy, and Marbury.
Kobe ended up being better at basketball then everyone else but just listening to how his mind works he was also smarter then everyone else. It’s to bad what happened to him a real tragedy.
back then even in the lotterie they sometimes chose fit over talent, thats what the nets did. they wanted instant impact with the more matured kittles. now nobody would choose fit over talent anymore.
It's easy. Back then, Kobe didn't show as well in workouts and looked overmatched. That was the word amongst GMs so he went from top 7 to top 20. That's how his stock fell. It wasn't incompetent GMs he really just didn't show as well. Kittles had accolades and was a great prospect. No fault on the pick. Kobe just grew up, evolved and turned into an incredible player. Not a lot of guys turn into what Kobe did.
Ray Allen responding with the “Minnesota’s a good city.” 😂 I think it’s safe to say Ray had no interest in or belief that he would be drafted by the T’Wolves, even if it was short lived. 😂
I’ve read a lot of comments talking about Kobe, Nash, Iverson, Allen, Shareef, Camby, Peja, Walker, Wallace and I agree with them all. But I’m just here to show some love to big Z! Ilgauskas was a fundamentally sound, impactful center for nearly his entire career.
Watching this it’s tough to see and ponder how many potential Hall of famers over the years weren’t able to break through to the NBA level. This shows how tough the business was and continues to be for so many people. Seeing Ben Wallace given a second chance, goes a long way for those that fall out of the draft.
This draft marked that period in the NBA where Mike Fratello traded in his Sicilian afro for a Marv Albert inspired hairpiece. John Calipari fully embraced his Pitino cosplay. Tony Braxton was in the process of breaking up a core in Dallas. Fans witnessed the coming together and subsequent breakup of a Marbury-Garnett 1-2 in 'sota. John Wallace was the first Karl Kani endorsed NBA player. Iverson played the first half of his rookie year with a fro before the first iteration of his signature rows. Many folks thought Eddie Jones was on the cusp of stardom before Kobe came. The Raptors was the place to get your numbers up before skating. The Grizzlies as a franchise skated to Memphis. *Sidenote: Marbury should be a Hall of Fame inductee due to his status as a global ambassador of the sport of basketball.*
If Duncan had gone in 96 instead of 97, which he could have and still been #1 overall, the 96 draft would be the GOAT draft. Still had some legendary players, but some of the stars flamed out quick.
Unknown fact. The Raptors won the 1996 draft lottery. They were not allowed to pick #1 due to their expansion agreement with the NBA. So they ended up drafting Marcus Camby at #2.
@@AirKangLocker AI at point guard. Vince at shooting guard. T-Mac at small forward. The problem would have been Damon Stoudamire who was the franchise point guard. They would have had to trade him.
I had to fight back tears several times, I'm proud to be a member of one TOP generations to ever grace America. Generation Xers amplified what the boomers started, it's far from over and i hope we continue to make them proud.
Crazy how humble Marbury was but then when contract time came he left to go to jersey smh…the wolves would of won a chip kg marbury Googz that was my fav team to watch back then.
You can tell that they were all appreciative of getting a chance to play at the highest level. Players nowadays just take it for granted. These older guys were grateful for their opportunity to join the league. Just a better class of athlete back then.
I'm a Larry Bird for GOAT fan and never was sold much on Kobe...seems like I'd hear of him scoring a big game and I'd look up his stats and yeah...he'd make 26 field goals, but off of 60 attempts! I mean, that's not bad but it's not even 50% since threes have their own column. Kobe grew on me b/c of his work ethic and squeezed out all the production he could and took nothing for granted....it had to pull up his teammates much in the same way Larry's work ethic pulled a 29-win team up to a 61-win team adding ONLY LARRY. MJ only added +11 wins or something when the Bulls added him. It's that win differential on a player's rookie season that tells the tale especially if they went to a bad team. KINDA hard for Magic to lift his lakers up +32 wins, considering he went to a very good team already but he helped them win it all AS a rookie, and you can't ask for more than that, despite the talent they already had. Magic was the glue and the infectious personality the Lakers needed, not to mention probably the most versatile player. Larry could've played all five, but a 6'10" PG or SG in 1979 was hardly a normal thing. Magic helped make it all more wide-open in the thought process, himself being about t 6'7 1/2" (he was NOT 6'9") and also slow for a guard, but his passing....wow.....as for that, sure, you can say Magic's the best passer ever, but Larry Bird is RIGHT THERE, himself. I'm just sad that Kobe's life ended the way it did.... just goes to show everyone needs to seek Jesus TODAY b/c we're not promised tomorrow. BTW if you look at Kobe's logo, you'll see a helicopter w/4 blades and even the body of it as if looked at directly from above or below. It's uncanny.....but if you dont' believe it, take a look at the logo and see if you can see it. It'll be in the gold parts.
He actually was recruited by Kentucky and during that summer he got caught tryna pawn a stolen gold chain so he transferred to a juco and never played then declared for the draft
Lol it can be a debate.., but I don't think nobody knows the game better than Jerry West, most GM go after the best players but Jerry knows how to facilitate a team.., the players he has put together...WOW.
