CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There's more than one side to every story, and that axiom felt especially true Monday night, when Kobe Bryant played his final game in Charlotte against the organization that drafted him 13th overall in 1996.
Bryant never played for the Hornets, as he was dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers for center Vlade Divac. The rest, as they say, is history -- and it was quite a glorious history for the Lakers, who won five titles during Bryant's 20 years with the squad.