He knows from experience
Kobe Bryant wasn’t originally going to be a Los Angeles Laker. In fact, the Lakers aren’t even the team that drafted him. The Charlotte Hornets took Kobe–who was coming straight out of high school–with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 draft, and promptly traded him to the Lakers. 18 years later, he’s known as one of the best players to ever touch a basketball.
Andrew Wiggins‘ situation is vaguely similar. He, unlike Kobe, was taken with the #1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, and has already been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, as per a soon-to-be-official agreement between Minnesota and the Cavs. Cleveland appeared to be ready to build a team around Wiggins and Kyrie Irving, their All-Star starting point guard, but once LeBron James announced he was returning to the Cavs, things became complicated, and the tried and proven services of Kevin Love, who is an All-Star in his own right, became priority over the potential–sky high albeit–of rookie Andrew Wiggins.
According to NBA insider Alex Kennedy, Kobe doesn’t think too highly of the Cavs decision to rid themselves of the most coveted NBA prospect since LeBron himself.
Kobe Bryant on Andrew Wiggins being traded: “Cleveland is making the same mistake that Charlotte made with me.” (via @2014MrBasket)
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) August 14, 2014
