The Los Angeles Lakers will retire Kobe Bryant‘s jersey numbers on Monday — that’s right, both of ’em.
Bryant’s Nos. 8 and 24 will be hung from the rafters at halftime of Monday’s game versus the Golden State Warriors, a fitting honour for a player that dominated the NBA during his two decades in Los Angeles and made a sizeable impact on the Lakers, in decidedly different ways, while donning both numbers.
After already establishing his Lakers legacy while wearing No. 8, the jersey in which he rose up the ranks from the 13th-overall pick straight out of high school to an all-NBA talent, winning three consecutive titles between 2000-02 while teaming up with Shaquille O’Neal to form one of the more successful and iconic duos in league history, Bryant made the switch ahead of the 2006-07 season.
Donning his high school number, 24, which was taken by teammate George McCloud when he first joined the Lakers, the jersey switch also brought a new persona for Bryant, who annointed himself “The Black Mamba,” a Kill Bill-inspired nickname after the world’s deadliest snake.
In a recent interview with Kendrick Lamar on Complex, Bryant explained the different mindset he adopted in the two jerseys, explaining that while wearing No. 8, he was “literally headhunting everyone.” With the jersey switch, however, Bryant says he “hit a certain maturity level” and took on more responsibilities as a veteran, asking himself “How can I lead a group of guys to get to certain levels as a group?”
Bryant won two more titles wearing No. 24 with a clearer hierarchy than in his Shaq days, the undisputed Alpha dog on a roster that included Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum (also: Adam Morrison).
Surprising or not, Bryant only took home one Most Valuable Player award in his career, and it came in 2008 while wearing No. 24.
Here’s a look at how some of Bryant’s stats and accomplishments break down in each jersey:
| No. 8 | No. 24 | |
|---|---|---|
| Games played | 707 | 638 |
| Total points | 16,866 | 16,777 |
| 40+-point games | 61 | 49 |
| 50+-point games | 10 | 10 |
| 60+-point games | 1 | 4 |
| 81-point games | 1 | 0 |
| All-star appearances | 8 | 10 |
| 1st team All-NBA | 4 | 7 |
| 1st team All-Defense | 4 | 5 |
| Championships | 3 | 2 |
Of course, splitting up those numbers can diminish Bryant’s wild overall statistical achievements.
Combined he had the third-most 50-plus point games of all time, trailing just Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan. In his career he scored 33,643 total points, third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,928). His 18 straight all-star appearances are an NBA record, as are his 15 all-star game starts. His first-team All-NBA honours are the most in league history, tied with Malone and LeBron James. And those first team all-defence selections are also a record, tied with Jordan, Gary Payton, and Kevin Garnett.
His swan song, a fitting 60-point effort during his final game in 2016 came at the tender age of 37, making him the oldest player to ever drop 60 in a game.
It’s extremely rare for a player to have two jerseys retired by the same team. With all he accomplished wearing both numbers, needless to say Bryant is fitting of the honour.
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