Kobe Bryant: Story behind late Lakers legend having 8 and 24 as jersey numbers

Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant passed away on Sunday night (Monday IST) after helicopter he was travelling in, crashed near Calabasas, California. 41-year-old was one of best players in NBA and is only player in NBA history to have two numbers retired by same team. Kobe Bryant in . 8 and . 24 Lakers jerseys represented two pivotal phases in his NBA career. While Lakers highlighted both his numbers as a tribute to 41-year-old, fans are still wondering 'Why did Kobe Bryant have two numbers?'

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Kobe Bryant jersey: Why did Kobe Bryant have two numbers?

In 2017, Kobe Bryant became 10th player to have his jersey retired by Lakers. He started his Lakers career in 1996 donning . 8 jersey, which was number he wore in Italy. It was also a d to number he wore at Adidas ABCD Camp -143 - whose digits add up to 8.

Bryant wore . 8 for 10 years, helping Lakers win three back-to-back NBA Championship (2000-2002). While . 8 represented his rise in league, . 24 represented his fight to prove to be best of best. 

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Kobe Bryant switched to . 24 before 2006-07 season. Bryant tably stated he wanted his new number to be 'a clean slate'. After long-time Lakers teammate Shaquille O'Neal was traded to Miami Heat and Bryant was arrested previous year with allegations of sexual assault, a change is direction was unsurprisingly needed.

So Bryant donned .24 jersey in second half of his NBA career, number he wore early in his career at Lower Merion High School, in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. Bryant admitted that he wanted to wear '24' from start but couldn't as George McCloud had it when he joined Lakers. Ar number out of question was 33, as it was retired to hour Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

But neverless,  Lakers .24 Bryant exuded maturity, taking over leadership role at franchise. He helped Lakers win two NBA Championships (2009 & 2010), winning NBA Finals MVP in both seasons. Astonishingly, ESPN Stats suggest, he scored almost same number of points in each: 16,777 as . 8, 16,866 as . 24.

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Kobe Bryant Lakers Stats

Bryant was named NBA MVP in 2008 and made All-Star team for 18 consecutive seasons. Bryant registered 33,643 points, 7,047 rebounds and 6306 assists in his NBA career.

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