Suppose the NBA's policy on 18-year olds had been in place in the 90's. Where would some of these legends have gone and what kind of impact would they have?

Lebron supposedly said he would have played for Ohio St

Per reports:
Lebron James: Ohio State
Kobe Bryant: Duke
Kevin Garnett: Michigan

(07-17-2023 05:22 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  Per reports:
Lebron James: Ohio State
Kobe Bryant: Duke
Kevin Garnett: Michigan

Garnett is an interesting one.

For a long time, he had indicated Illinois. Later after a few years in the pros, he said Maryland would have been his choice. During his senior year, he was connected to Michigan but some still thought he would end up at Illinois.

Boise St of course.
Duh

Lebron said he was a big fan of "the scarlet and red."

His words.

Garnett is a year older than me.

I actually got to see him play once as a high schooler. It was like when someone has a cheat code in a video game. Simply UNSTOPPABLE.

Man, my sports watching years in college would have been WAAAAAY more fun if KG ended up at Illinois.

I've seen LeBron most commonly associated with Ohio State but I've also seen Louisville and Duke mentioned.

(07-17-2023 05:13 PM)C2__ Wrote:  Suppose the NBA's policy on 18-year olds had been in place in the 90's. Where would some of these legends have gone and what kind of impact would they have?

Lebron - tOSU
Kobe - Villanova
Garnett - not sure, he had an incident his jr year in HS and only spent a year at Farragut. I don't think he'd have wanted to go back east, so maybe UCLA?

Memphis had commitments from Amare Stoudamire and Kendrick Perkins before they decided to enter the draft from high school.

(07-17-2023 05:17 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Lebron supposedly said he would have played for Ohio St

I think he ends up at Duke if he went through recruiting process. He and Coach K love boys, but who knows.

He’s a classic salesman and made those comments when it was easy to. You definitely don’t want Cleveland fans on your bad side haha.

(07-17-2023 06:50 PM)natibeast2.0 Wrote:  

(07-17-2023 05:17 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Lebron supposedly said he would have played for Ohio St

I think he ends up at Duke if he went through recruiting process. He and Coach K love boys, but who knows.

He’s a classic salesman and made those comments when it was easy to. You definitely don’t want Cleveland fans on your bad side haha.

That's what I think too. He said Ohio State when Thad Matta was riding high. Louisville when Sebastian Telfair committed there but Duke after he played for Team USA. The way he spoke of (and still speaks of) Coach K makes me think that's his TRUE destination. I think Ohio State is just fodder for the hometown fans. Louisville was just an outloud thought and possible foreshadowing to creating super teams. Duke/Coach K comments felt genuine.

(07-17-2023 05:17 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Lebron supposedly said he would have played for Ohio St

Yep, but on college gameday he said that he was a childhood fan of Florida State.

(07-17-2023 08:52 PM)krux Wrote:  

(07-17-2023 06:50 PM)natibeast2.0 Wrote:  

(07-17-2023 05:17 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Lebron supposedly said he would have played for Ohio St

I think he ends up at Duke if he went through recruiting process. He and Coach K love boys, but who knows.

He’s a classic salesman and made those comments when it was easy to. You definitely don’t want Cleveland fans on your bad side haha.

That's what I think too. He said Ohio State when Thad Matta was riding high. Louisville when Sebastian Telfair committed there but Duke after he played for Team USA. The way he spoke of (and still speaks of) Coach K makes me think that's his TRUE destination. I think Ohio State is just fodder for the hometown fans. Louisville was just an outloud thought and possible foreshadowing to creating super teams. Duke/Coach K comments felt genuine.

I don’t think the LeBron and Ohio State connection is just fodder for hometown fans. He has his own locker in the Ohio State basketball *and* football locker rooms. I mean, think of how many sports legends that actually played at Ohio State that don’t have that honor, yet LeBron has that honor for *both* basketball and football. So, I don’t think it’s for show, particularly with Ohio State having long been THE Death Star monster program in college sports (even back in the early 2000s). It’s not like Ohio State is some type of hometown charity case (unlike if he were to attend, say, Akron).

Around 1999 or 2000 there was an article about Kobe leading Duke to the NCAA title game. Im sure it was in USA Today but I forget the other details in the article.

Some years ago in an interview Kobe himself said he would have gone to North Carolina.

Theres no other two schools he was considering, that much is true.

Wouldn’t KG have been a Prop 48 guy?

(07-18-2023 09:22 AM)PicksUp Wrote:  Around 1999 or 2000 there was an article about Kobe leading Duke to the NCAA title game. Im sure it was in USA Today but I forget the other details in the article.

Some years ago in an interview Kobe himself said he would have gone to North Carolina.

Theres no other two schools he was considering, that much is true.

Kobe’s father, Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant was a Philly hero. He had grown up in Philly, starred as a college player at LaSalle and played for the Sixers. During Kobe’s high school years he was an assistant coach at LaSalle. There were rumblings about the LaSalle connection being an option for Kobe.

When Kobe was leading Lower Merion HS to the state title in his senior season, the rumors about Duke and/or UNC started.

Anyone know for Jermaine O'Neal?

(07-19-2023 05:27 PM)C2__ Wrote:  Anyone know for Jermaine O'Neal?

Kentucky or South Carolina

Wasn't Kevin Garnett originally from South Carolina? Then after some incidents, his family moved him to Chicago?

Seems Michigan would have made sense, but I wonder if Maryland might not have suited him better? An ACC school...probably the conference he grew up watching...in a more urban environment?

A little off topic, but what about the high schools who absolutely should have gone to college?