
Born in 1978, Kobe Bryant made the jump directly from high school to the NBA when he was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets as the 13th overall pick of the 1996 NBA Draft. The 6-7 guard was immediately traded to the Los Angeles Lakers and won the NBA slam dunk contest in his rookie year. The son of former NBA player Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, Bryant became the youngest All-Star in NBA history in 1998 when he was selected as a Western Conference starter at the age of 19.