Published 18:50 IST, February 4th 2020
LeBron James reveals reason behind choosing Gianna’s jersey number over Kobe Bryant’s
NBA All-Star 2020 games will be honouring Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. LeBron James and his team will wear the No.2 jersey for Gianna.
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NBA All-Star 2020 games will be honouring Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. Apart from format changes, Team Giannis Antetokounmpo and Team LeBron James will be wearing No. 24 and No. 2 jerseys to honour Kobe Bryant and Gianna respectively. Bryant, Gianna and seven others lost their lives in a tragic helicopter crash. Gianna, like her father, was a talented basketball player. The group of nine were headed to one of her basketball games before their helicopter crashed.
NBA 2019-20: LeBron James reveals why he chose Gianna’s jersey number over Kobe’s
LeBron picked Gianna's No. 2 for his All-Star team because of his own daughter, Zhuri ❤️ pic.twitter.com/A28lQSkOWx
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 3, 2020
The league came to LeBron James with the idea about the All-Star jerseys being No. 2 for Gigi and No. 24 for Kobe. LeBron chose to have his team wear No. 2, he says, because Gianna makes him think about his own daughter, Zhuri.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 3, 2020
LeBron said the league asked him if he wanted his team to wear 24 or 2 for the All Star game. He picked 2, the number Gianna Bryant wore. Why? “Zhuri.”
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) February 3, 2020
According to NBA reports, LeBron James was asked to choose between Kobe Bryant’s or Gianna’s jersey number. The Lakers star chose No. 2 to honour Gianna. When asked about the reason behind his decision, LeBron James revealed that it was because it reminds him of his daughter, Zhuri James.
Kobe Bryant was survived by his wife and three daughters – Capri, Bianka and Natalia. Though fans assumed Bryant wanted a son, the NBA legend thought differently. In an ESPN interview, he revealed that he loved having daughters and called himself a ‘girl dad’.
Also read | LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo laud Super Bowl LIV halftime show ft. Shakira & J-Lo
NBA All-Star 2020: NBA honours Kobe Bryant while drastically changing the All-Star format
The NBA announced today a new format for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game that makes the outcome of every quarter count for charity. The changes include a new fourth-quarter format that will honor the late Kobe Bryant.
— NBA (@NBA) January 30, 2020
Full release: https://t.co/l6e25lgQCa pic.twitter.com/C3gDppTYiw
For the 69th NBA All-Star Game, Team Giannis Antetokounmpo (Eastern Conference) and Team LeBron James (Western Conference), will face off to win each of the first three quarters. Each quarter will start with a 0-0 score and will be 12 minutes long. For the fourth quarter, a final target will be set. The target score for the NBA All-Star 2020, the leading team’s cumulative total will be taken, to which 24 points will be added. The fourth quarter will be untimed, and whoever reached the target first will win. Twenty-four is chosen to honour Kobe Bryant’s jersey number for his last ten NBA seasons. The NBA All-Star 2020 game is scheduled to be held on February 16, 8:00 PM EST (February 17, 4:30 AM IST) in Chicago.
18:50 IST, February 4th 2020