With Kobe Bryant officially announcing his plans to retire from the NBA upon the completion of the 2015-16 season over the weekend, the Los Angeles Lakers are beginning to plan out the finer points of how to send the Black Mamba out into the sunset. One of the points of contention: which of Bryant’s jersey numbers, between No. 8 and No. 24, to retire.
According to a report by TMZ Sports on Tuesday, the Lakers front office will meet to decide which of the two numbers to ultimately lift to the Staples Center rafters.
“We have had a couple very casual and preliminary conversations internally about this over the past few years,” TMZ quoted a Lakers spokesperson as saying. “But now that Kobe has officially announced a retirement date, I anticipate we will discuss this more formally in the coming weeks and months.”
Lakers beat writer Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times also added on Tuesday that Bryant said he has no particular preference as to which number the team retires.
The 37-year-old Bryant wore the No. 8 jersey for his first ten seasons in the NBA, from the time he was drafted in 1996 until 2006. Over that span, he won his first three NBA championships, established himself as a bona fide superstar in the league, and registered some of the most iconic moments of his career (including his 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors). Bryant then switched to the No. 24, winning another two championships (this time sans Shaquille O’Neal), two Finals MVP awards, and his lone regular season MVP award. Upon his retirement in 2016, Bryant will have played in that jersey number for a total of ten seasons as well.
Interestingly enough, Bryant wore the No. 24 jersey as a teenager for a portion of his time at Lower Merion High School. However, that number was unavailable to him upon joining the Lakers in 1996 as it was already being used by the immortal George McCloud.
Whichever jersey the Lakers choose to retire (or if they decide to hang up both), the fact of the matter is that Bryant torpedoed the rest of the NBA regardless of the number he was wearing, making this discussion more of a formality than anything.
H/T Bleacher Report
