"What if the GM had done what he was going to do?" - Shareef Abdur-Rahim says EC GM tried to call Kobe on Draft Night to tell him they would pick him

1996 top Draft prospect Shareef Abdur-Rahim was running late to Madison Square Garden when his hotel phone rang. He didn't mind the phone ringing because he was still busy getting ready and wasn't expecting a call anyway.

Before he left, however, Shareef decided to check the messages on the phone just to be sure. To his surprise, the message wasn't for him but for Kobe Bryant , and it was likely just a mix-up. But Abdur-Rahim listened to the voicemail anyway.

"The voice on the message was the GM of an Eastern Conference team picking in the top 10. The voice said, 'Kobe, I know you don't want us to take you, but we think you're our guy, and we're going to take you,'" recalled Abdur-Rahim via The Players Tribune .

It meant nothing to Shareef at that time

Because he still had to rush to the Garden to catch up on the Draft proceedings, Abdur-Rahim left his hotel room and totally forgot about what he had heard. Shareef made it to the Garden just in time when Commissioner David Stern read his name as the No.3 overall pick by the Vancouver Grizzlies.

Meanwhile, Bryant's name wasn't among the first ten draftees called by Commissioner Stern. The Lower Merion High phenom ended up getting picked 13th by the Charlotte Hornets and immediately traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Looking back, Shareef realized how significant that phone call would have been if it had reached Kobe that day.

"The day was such a blur — the message was really insignificant to me at the time. In retrospect, it's a pretty big What if? What if the GM had done what he was going to do? What if the call had gone through to Kobe's room? How different might the last two decades have been?" added Abdur-Rahim.

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That call was likely from the New Jersey Nets

The big man did not mention which GM called Kobe, but the call likely came from New Jersey Nets general manager John Nash. Despite threats from Bryant's camp that he would instead go to Italy if the Nets picked him, Nash kept on pushing for head coach John Calipari to take the high school phenom.

The GM and the coach agreed over lunch on Draft Day that they would take KB, no matter what. However, about an hour and a half before the Draft, Calipari told Nash he would pick Kittles. He later claimed that he was talked out of picking Bryant .

It's unclear who talked John out of drafting the high school phenom, whether it was Bean's bluff that he would play in Italy instead of the NBA if the Nets picked him or super agent David Falk's insistence that Cal take his ward, Kittles. However, one thing's sure: History would have been different if New Jersey had drafted the Black Mamba.

Related: Kobe Bryant said he would've stayed with the Nets if they drafted him: "If Kerry Kittles is not available, we'll let you draft Kobe"