What the NBA's biggest stars looked like when their careers started

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Kobe Bryant, June, 1996

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Yes, that is Kobe Bryant in a Boston Celtics t-shirt.

While many would like to wax poetic about the 1980s, we are now in the golden age of the NBA.

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Even if we briefly ignore the recent influx of new stars (e.g Anthony Davis) there is an unprecedented number of superstars in their prime (e.g. LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony) and a large number nearing the end (e.g. Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan).

Many of those stars looked quite different in their younger days, with some nearly unrecognizable.

On the next few pages we'll take a look at how much the NBA's biggest stars have changed since their careers first started.