who was the first nba player drafted out of high school
NBA high school draftees In the early years of the NBA draft, a player had to finish his four-year college eligibility to be eligible for selection. Reggie Harding, who had graduated from high school but did not enroll in a college, became the first player drafted out of high school when the Detroit Pistons selected him in the fourth round of the 1962 draft.[3] However, the NBA rules at that time prohibited a high school player to play in the league until one year after his high school class graduated.[4][5] Thus, he spent a year playing in a minor basketball league before he was drafted again in the 1963 draft by the Pistons.[6] He finally entered the league in the 1963–64 season and played four seasons in the NBA and American Basketball Association (ABA).[7]
Marcus Álvarez
Kobe Bryant The first guard to ever be taken out of high school, Bryant was chosen as the 13th overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996.[30] According to Arn Tellem, Bryant's agent at the time, Bryant playing for the Charlotte Hornets was "an impossibility".[31] However, Bill Branch, the Hornets' head scout at the time, said that the Hornets agreed to trade their draft selection to the Los Angeles Lakers before picking Bryant. The teams agreed to the trade the day before the draft and the Lakers told the Hornets whom to select five minutes before the pick was made.[32] Branch said that prior to the trade agreement, the Hornets never even considered drafting Bryant. Prior to the draft, Bryant had worked out in Los Angeles, where he scrimmaged against former Lakers players Larry Drew and Michael Cooper and, according to then-Laker manager Jerry West, "marched over these people".[33] On July 1, 1996, West traded his starting center, Vlade Divac, to the Hornets in exchange for Bryant's draft rights.[34] Since he was still 17 at the time of the draft, his parents had to cosign his contract with the Lakers until he was able to sign his own when he turned 18 before the season began.[35]
Eligibility for the NBA draft Players whose 19th birthday falls during or before the calendar year of the draft, or at least one year removed from the graduation of their high school class, and who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:[16]