I hadn't seen some of these highlights before, so hopefully it's not just me. Kobe at age 16-17 was just so unbelievably good before he even graduated. It makes you wonder what his pre-draft workouts looked like. After seeing highlights like these, it's hard to believe teams really didn't want to gamble on drafting him out of high school. I don't think anyone in the draft other than maybe Iverson could make some of these shots, and probably not at Kobe's age.
In the annual Gym Rats Midnight Madness game, shortly after Tracy McGrady had blown up at ABCD camp, Kobe set a new record with 43 points. He showed off his incredible body control with tons of acrobatic layups, switching hands, hanging in the air, and just toying with his outmatched opponents. And of course, he was rocking #32 in tribute to his favorite player, Magic Johnson. Enjoy!
