Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal And The Other High School Player In 1996 NBA Draft

Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O'Neal helped continue the trend of high school players performing well in the NBA when both were drafted in 1996. Bryant became a Hall of Famer while O'Neal was a six-time All-Star. Lost in all the hoopla was the story of Taj McDavid, a high school star who also entered the draft that year. Davis went undrafted and never played in the league. "A really, really good high school basketball player who did something profoundly ambitious, profoundly understandable considering his age and I guess also profoundly dumb," longtime sportswriter Jeff Pearlman said on his Pressbox Chronicles podcast. Pearlman points out McDavid had a solid senior season in high school, winning the Class 2A Player of the Year award in South Carolina. McDavid's mother was also quoted as saying her son could become "another Michael Jordan." At the time, the NBA began scouting high school talent because future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett was drafted in the lottery the previous year. Pearlman said McDavid was a vict