You’ve seen the pictures of Kobe Bryant in that Boston Celtics green practice gear and I’m sure many of you have wondered “what if?”.  But many don’t know just how close Bryant was to becoming a Celtic, the team that is the historic and bitter rival of the team he eventually went to and became a legendary piece of, the Los Angeles Lakers.  This is the story of how Kobe Bryant almost became a Boston Celtic, a story Bryant himself called “the coolest f—ing story ever“.

I’m going to start off by saying when you have time you SHOULD read the entire piece by Baxter Holmes on ESPN, but I’ll provide you with a few snippets.

I’m sure you’ve heard of Boston Celtics legend Red Auerbach who won 11 titles as a head coach, four as a general manager and another as team president.

“I think this kid is going to be a hell of a player,” Auerbach told Carr. “But it can go either way. He seems to be solid, but he’s a high school kid. You’ve got to make a choice based on what you need today. But I think he’s a hell of a player.”

That was the basis of most scouts thinking during that time.  Kobe Bryant showed immense talent on the court and gave what many described as the best interview ever given by a draft prospect.  He wasn’t just gifted physically, he was a student of the game and knew everything there was to know about the history.  But Bryant was also jumping from high school to the pros and many knew it would take some time before he could help significantly, and teams including the Celtics wanted help asap.

Now Bryant is regarded as the most successful player from the 1996 draft class, but at the time there was the “Super Six of ’96,” as they came to be known: Allen Iverson, Marcus Camby, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Ray Allen and Antoine Walker.  The Celtics moved up to get the 6th pick of the draft and with it they chose Antoine Walker who became a major part of the franchise but never got them a championship.

Carr recalls the meeting when the Celtics decided not to pick Bryant. “We all looked at each other,” Carr says, “and we knew there was a possibility that Kobe could come back and haunt us. We knew that.”

Bryant smirks when he hears that, pleased that he managed to complete the haunting. Bryant says his favorite title was his fifth, when his Lakers beat Boston in a grueling seven-game series in the 2010 Finals.

Seriously read the whole piece on ESPN