Kobe Bryant was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He was later traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac. Independence Day (the original) came out that summer. I remember because it was the first movie I took a "girlfriend" out to see.
I remember that draft not for Bryant but for Samaki Walker, who was taken with the 9th pick. Walker was the best basketball player to ever come through my high school, which I was about to begin attending in the fall.