OAKLAND >> The 17-year-old kid faced a Hall-of-Fame defender in his pre-draft workout. A Hall of Fame player and executive watched, too. But none of those elements swayed Kobe Bryant as he matched up against former Lakers defender Michael Cooper before former Lakers general manager Jerry West.
“I wanted to prove at 17 that I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me,” Bryant recalled before the Lakers played the Golden State Warriors on Thursday at the Oracle Arena. “You don’t have to give me a bib and a pacifier. You don’t have to have somebody tuck me in.