Written by Harry Lyles Jr. at The Comeback
Kobe Bryant announced Sunday night that he would be retiring from the NBA in a poem written on The Players Tribune. Bryant’s retirement ends one of the most illustrious careers in NBA history and drew quite the emotions from fans across the world.
But there might be a much more pressing issue coming in the future, not just for Bryant, but for the Lakers franchise. What jersey number should the team retire for Bryant? No. 8 or 24?
From 1996-2006, Bryant donned the number 8. He won three of his five NBA titles wearing that number, one of the most dominant three-peats in NBA history. There was just no beating the Lakers in that time.
He went on an absolute tear in 2002-03 when he scored 40 points or more in nine consecutive games, something done very few times in league history.
In January of 2003, Kobe set a then-NBA record for threes in a game, with 12 of them against the Seattle Supersonics. He didn’t even make his first three until the second quarter of that game, and had 45 points on the night.
During the 2006 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers were facing the Phoenix Suns when Bryant made a clutch layup to send Game 4 of the series into overtime, and would lead the Lakers to victory in the extra period over a Suns team that was an offensive machine.
Probably his most notable accomplishment in the number 8 was when he dropped 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. It was the second-best scoring game in league history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100. Many would argue that it might be the greatest performance ever.
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