NBA: Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers - Source: Imagn
Kobe Bryant got the ultimate honor from the LA Lakers. He became the first player not to have one but to have jersey numbers retired by the same organization, an honor that was more than deserved. The "Black Mamba" took the league by storm right out of high school, donning the No. 8 jersey. Then, as he became a superstar, he changed his number to 24.
There have been countless theories about why Kobe made that swap, as he was already an established player and didn't change teams. Kevin Garnett, a close friend and another player who came straight out of high school, was confident he had cracked the code. Per Garnett, that was a way to one-up Michael Jordan, who wore No. 23.
Here's what he said on "All the Smoke" in 2023:
“People don’t know what his No. 24 stands for; people don’t understand that was a sign to everybody that he was a step above 23,” Garnett said. “And that was a shot at Mike, like 'ni***, I’m better than you,' and really stood on it.
