Bryant Booed in Charlotte

Small town, big memory:

They’d just as soon forget the Confederate flag ever existed as let someone who dared disdain the Hornets pass through Charlotte unscathed, the fact that there may not even have been a slight to begin with easily forgotten. Nick Van Exel knows. Three and a half years later, he still gets booed in annual Laker visits for missing two predraft workouts in 1993, both accompanied by reasonable explanations.

So there was no way Kobe Bryant was going to get a free pass Wednesday night. Making his first appearance in Charlotte since the Hornets drafted him with the clear intent of trading him to the Lakers for Vlade Divac, but also since agent Arn Tellem turned it into a pride issue here by saying Bryant would only play in Los Angeles, the boos came. Not in a big way, but they came.

“I was wondering what they were for,” Bryant deadpanned.

He knew, of course. A 1080 score on the Scholastic Assessment Test still counts for something.

“I can understand the boos,” he said, turning serious, or at least sympathetic. “I got traded. I got traded from the Hornets. I think there was a lot of confusion when my agent was making statements about me not wanting to play here, so I understand the fans may have been upset.”

Their revenge came on the court. Bryant’s third appearance was just like the previous two: restful. He played seven minutes and made two of three shots, including a three-point basket, but also committed three turnovers. He has yet to play in the second half.

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The 33 points by the Hornets in the first half wasn’t even close to the Laker record. The Houston Rockets scored only 26 in 1991.