Kobe wasn't expected to come in and play as a rookie. Garnett wasn't either. The AAU circuit is much, much more publicized these days then before. I'm not trying to say that Kobe as an 18 year old is better then Lebron as an 18 year old, the draft spot proved that from the beginning. Kobe was good enough to play as a rookie, but he wasn't drafted with the thought that he was going to be nearly as good as he turned out to be
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