Warner Bros. Acquires Script for Movie About Kobe Bryant, 1996 NBA Draft

A day of infamy for the Lakers, Hornets and Nets could be headed to the big screen.

Steve Nash (left) and Kobe Bryant (right) joined the Suns and Hornets on a night that changed basketball forever. / Steve Freeman/NBAE via Getty Images

The middle and end of Hall of Fame Lakers guard Kobe Bryant's NBA career were so dramatic that many have forgotten the beginning. However, a new film project could potentially change that.

Warner Bros. has acquired a spec script for a film about Bryant's experience during the 1996 NBA draft, according to a Friday evening report from Matt Donnelly and J. Kim Murphy of Variety. The script was reportedly written by Gavin Johannsen and Alex Sohn, and is tentatively titled With the 8th Pick?

Students of basketball history will recognize that the eighth pick in the '96 draft was held by the Nets, coached by recent Massachusetts defector (and current Arkansas boss) John Calipari. New Jersey was reportedly eager to draft Bryant, only to pass under considerable external pressure.

The Hornets then took Bryant with the 13th pick to trade to the Lakers in exchange for center Vlade Divac, who played just two years in Charlotte while Bryant began his ascent to immortality.

Bryant won an Academy Award during his lifetime for Dear Basketball, an animated short film about his farewell that he wrote and narrated.

---

More NBA on Sports Illustrated

feed