A Sad - and Common - Story

For every Kobe Bryant, there are 10 Joe Fortes.

Bottom line:

"As a player, there's no question he was ready to leave school," Wootten said. "He could not have had a better season than his sophomore year at North Carolina. The tougher question is: 'As a person, was he mature enough for the NBA?' "

..."My whole life, I had people looking out for me," Forte said. "At DeMatha I had Coach Wootten, and at North Carolina I had Coach Guthridge. Those guys took me under their watch, man. They made sure I did everything right.

"Then in the NBA, I didn't have anybody watching me. I had to make my own decisions, and I guess I wasn't totally ready for that."