Vince Carter played 31 regular season games against Kobe Bryant during his 22 seasons in the NBA. But long before Vinsanity and the Black Mamba became rivals in the big league, they were two high school prospects who played together in the same AAU team.
Carter was one year ahead of Kobe and was the country's No.1 shooting guard prospect. Kobe was right there behind him.
"I remember the first time Kobe…we were already in a tournament, I wanna say in New York, And Kobe got there late. And the first two games, he wasn't starting. And Bean, his dad, came up to our AAU coach and 'Hey, we gotta play this guy. You can't bring him off the bench," recalled Carter.
Kobe's first shot attempt was from halfcourt
Many consider the 1994 Patterson New Jersey AAU team the best AAU team ever assembled. With four future NBA first-round picks, that team dominated its opposition, winning by ridiculous margins of 50 and 60 points.
The team 'belonged' to Patterson's Tim Thomas , who, at that time, was the nation's No.1 ranked prep player. Carter was from Florida, but he flew to join Thomas' team. Future NBA star Rip Hamilton and UConn player Kevin Freeman also joined Tim's AAU squad. And then there was Kobe, the son of former NBA player Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant, who had just relocated back to the U.S. after spending his early years in Europe.
"Kobe comes in for the first time as our point guard," added Vince. "And his first shot was from halfcourt. He shoots an airball. And we're like, 'What's up? Comes back down the second time and shoots it again, all net. He said, 'Oh, I got that kind of range'. "This is the first game he's playing with us, no practice. But it was just great. It just showed his mentality, and he wanted to show that he was the best in the building."
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Bryant was out for Thomas' head
The following year, Thomas decided to focus on baseball because he was already getting bored of dominating the high school basketball scene. Bryant, Carter, and Hamilton left Patterson and played for a Philadelphia team. They reached the finals and interestingly faced Patterson in the championship game. Hamilton said that the night before the game, Kobe couldn't sleep because he was thinking about getting Thomas' No.1 spot.
"'Hey, man. Rip, tomorrow. They got Tim Thomas as the number-one player in the country. I should be the number one player in the country. I'm gonna go out there and show the world.' He said, 'Watch this. Wait, wait and see.'" Kobe said to Rip.
Kobe did what he said he would. He outscored Thomas and led his team to victory. Rip says the following day, Kobe took the top spot from Tim. During his senior year, the future Laker led Lower Merion to its first state title in over 40 years. And the rest, as they say, is history.
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