At the intersection of Hollywood and the Lakers, crazy, glitzy deals go down. One of the craziest went down in 1996, and it impacts the NBA to this day.

Jerry West was the Lakers' general manager. One day he got a phone call from an acquaintance, sports super-agent Arn Tellum.

"I've got this kid Kobe Bryant in town," Tellum said. "Want to have a look at him?"

West knew of this Philadelphia (Lower Merion) high school phenom, but hadn't given Bryant much thought. The Lakers weren't likely to gamble a first- or second-round draft pick on a high school kid, especially not a guard. The majority of NBA teams wanted no part of any kiddie lottery. No guard had been drafted into the NBA directly out of high school.

Still, West didn't get his reputation for genius-level shrewdness by following the crowd. He agreed to watch Bryant do a solo workout.

"I went to the Inglewood YMCA," West said, "and here's this bright-eyed, cheerful, bubbly, exuberant young man, ready to show us his wares. I had seen high school film of him, but you can't tell how competitive a player is on film. I watched him and I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, this guy's not too bad for a young guy.'

"It was obvious he had very, very unique talent, something I hadn't seen in a person of that age. And he didn't want to stop [working out]. He wanted to keep going and going and going. It was really eye-popping to watch."

The Lakers' center was Vlade Divac. He was a fan favorite, but he had limitations and was getting older. Shaquille O'Neal was coming onto the free-agent market and the Lakers planned to take a hard run at Shaq, and if they got him, trade Divac.

O'Neal had zero championship rings then, and many questioned his commitment to the game. West saw him as the Lakers' next dynasty cornerstone.

After watching Bryant cavort at the Y, though, West started dreaming bigger, dreaming Hollywood-size dreams. But did he trust his eyes? He wanted another look at Bryant.

This time West went to the Y with a posse, including former Lakers swingman Michael Cooper, who was retired but still in great shape. Larry Bird called Cooper, at 6 feet 5, the best defensive player he ever faced.

Cooper, possessor of immense pride and every trick in the book, went one on one with Bryant, who demolished Cooper.

"Oh, my gosh," West recalls thinking, "This kid's got to be the best player in the draft. How can we get this guy?"

After watching Bryant and Cooper go at it for about 10 minutes West stood up, nodded at two team public-relations men he had brought with him, and snapped: "That's it, let's get out of here, I've seen enough. He's better than anyone on our team."

In a deal with Charlotte, the Hornets drafted Bryant at No. 13 then traded him to the Lakers for Divac ... and the rest is history.

"There are very few players I'd pay to watch," West says, "but I'd damn sure pay my money to see [Bryant]."