Summer League wasn’t always the mainstream event that it has become now.
The games used to be played at The Pyramid in Long Beach, CA, and were far less widely paid attention to than they are today. But it was always a place for rookies to get their first shot at NBA-level competition, and back in the summer of 1996, Kobe Bryant showed he immediately was one of the best players there.
The video clip above features Bryant dropping 36 points at Summer League in advance of his rookie season, and what’s most interesting is how many of his moves look so familiar, despite the endless hours of hard work he’s put into his game ever since.
[via LakersNation]