Kobe Bryant's College Preference Settled Once And For All

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The 'Where would Kobe Bryant have gone to college?' question has been settled once and for all.

In a new clip that has emerged from an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, the late Los Angeles Lakers star said that he would have gone to North Carolina because he wanted to compete with the likes of Vince Carter every day in practice.

"I loved Coach K. Coach K was phenomenal, but I've got to say the truth has to come out," Bryant said. "I loved Duke, but Dean Smith sent me a letter that actually said he was going to stop recruiting me because he believed I was going to go pro. But if I had to make a decision, I probably would have wound up going to Carolina just because of the competition..."

We all know that Bryant never had to make a college decision. Instead of going to college to play one or two years, the elite prospect decided to enter the 1996 NBA Draft where he was selected at No. 13 by the Charlotte Hornets. Bryant was immediately traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac. Bryant played his entire NBA career with the Lakers.

Bryant's ultimate desire to play for Coach Smith and North Carolina was because he wanted to compete against the best of the best every day in practice. The place to do that was UNC. During this era of Carolina basketball, the Tar Heels had Rasheed Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse, Ed Cota, Vince Carter, and Antawn Jamison, among others. The Tar Heels were stacked with NBA prospects.

"So the year before my senior year, before I graduated (high school), Vince Carter went to Carolina. And the year before he was the best guard in the country," Bryant explained. "So I am looking, I am saying, 'Yo, I want to play against him every single day because I want to get better. I want to measure myself against these guys. I want to measure myself by competition against a Vince Carter, a (Derrick) Phelps, a Rasheed Wallace every day.' That is something that I really looked forward to doing."

Kobe settled the speculation surrounding his college choice, famously argued amongst Carolina & Duke fans over the years. Great opening line from Kimmel on the Duke recruiting pitch. #KobeDay pic.twitter.com/vDnictrive

— Tate Frazier (@tatefrazier) August 24, 2020

Bryant went on to one of the best NBA careers in the history of the league. When he made his NBA debut, Bryant was the youngest player ever in the NBA (since broken byJermaine O'Nealand former teammateAndrew Bynum). He played 20 years in the league and was named to 18 NBA All-Star teams. Bryant was 11-time All-NBA, nine-time All-Defensive team, five-time NBA World Champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP, and was the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 2008. Bryant is widely considered one of the top 10 players to ever play in the NBA.

At North Carolina, Carter went on to a very successful three-year college career where he was First-Team All-ACC and Second-Team All-America before he was drafted No. 5 overall in the 1998 NBA draft. Carter's NBA career spanned across four decades and 22 years. He was an eight-time NBA All-Star and became one of the most exciting and athletic players in the league.

When Jimmy Kimmel asked Bryant about wearing the same uniform at North Carolina as NBA great Michael Jordan, Bryant's reply was simple: "Yeah, no pressure there."

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