It didn’t take long before NBA scouts learned about a high school phenom in Philadelphia named Kobe Bryant. From what most of them heard, the teenager was gaining traction for his exceptional scoring prowess.
However, these scouts had to hear it straight from a credible source before jotting down notes about the promising NBA prospect. That’s when they began reaching out to Jeremy Treatman, an assistant basketball coach at Lower Merion High School.
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According to Treatman, most of the inquiries were about Kobe’s stats, abilities and upside potential. Treatman received so many calls from different reps to the point where he already memorized what to tell them.
“Back then, you’d get a phone call, ‘Hi, this is so-and-so from the Detroit Pistons calling.’ This was [before] social media. A lot of NBA teams started calling for the stats, and I would always go, ‘Yes, 31 points a game, 12 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks, three steals.’ I had it memorized. ‘Yeah, he’s got 2,625 points. He’s going to break Wilt Chamberlain’s record probably at this point,'” Treatman told Los Angeles Magazine.
Kobe’s high school fame was unreal
Everything Treatman told those scouts about Kobe was true. Apart from posting staggering averages, Bryant also led Lower Merion to the Pennsylvania Class AAAA state championship in his senior year in 1996.
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Treatman’s assumption that Bean would break Wilt Chamberlain’s high school scoring record also came to reality. At that point, Bryant was already arguably the most sought-after prep player in the country.
Years have passed, but Treatman still has a vivid memory of Kobe’s unbelievable high school fame. He knew back then that he was witnessing an NBA star in the making.
“There were other things, like just getting Kobe on and off a bus, getting the team in and out of a building,” Treatman remembered. “There were a lot of fans. I really felt like Bruce Springsteen was on our team. There was never a rush at him. But there was a lot of interest. There were a lot of long lines.”
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“There were tickets being scalped outside,” he continued. “There were 1,000 people turned away from the Coatesville game at the Palestra. The state championship game was played in a big, giant arena. So they got everybody in, but it was sold-out.”
Related: Tim Hardaway Sr. says Michael Jordan would get “cooked” in a 1-on-1 All-Star tournament
The prep-to-pro star
What the NBA scouts projected turned out to be true. Kobe was NBA-ready despite being a teenager. He did what he thought was right: skip college and jump straight into the pros.
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In the summer of ’96, Bryant declared for the draft. Several teams came up with their evaluations and projections, but it was the Charlotte Hornets that selected Kobe as the 13th overall pick.
However, Jerry West, who was the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers at the time, wouldn’t let Bryant slip away. The Lakers launched a draft day trade for the then-17-year-old.
From that point on, all Bryant did was to prove that he belonged in the big boys’ league. He experienced some growing pains early in his NBA career, but, as we’ve all witnessed, Kobe even exceeded everybody’s expectations as a player.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.