In 1996, Kobe Bryant was a teenager who had just graduated high school and was chosen
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thirteenth overall in the NBA Draft.
Not a bad way to start off your adult life.
However, Kobe wasn’t happy then for being passed up by 12 teams and over 20 years later, he’s still a bit bitter.
Not long ago, Bryant wanted to get into business and the investing game, so he reached out to billionaire Chris Sacca. The two began to collaborate on a project and when it came to name the company, Bryant had a unique suggestion.
“Kobe and I collaborated on something briefly that we were setting up for him,” Sacca said. “I was like, ‘What should we call it, like Mamba or whatever?’ And he came back said, ‘No, no, no. I want to call it 13.’ Do you know why? It’s sports-related, and this was like two years. He said, ‘Can you believe they drafted 12 other motherf—– before me?’ He still wears that, man.”
If you look back at the 1996 draft, other than Allen Iverson, it’s pretty easy to see in hindsight that Bryant was better than everyone chosen ahead of him. If we were curious about what drove Bryant during his 20 year career, I think we got a small glimpse of what made him competitive.
H/T: Business Insider
