Kobe Bryant is the only NBA player to have the same team retiring two different jerseys. Bryant played 20 years for Los Angeles Lakers, sporting the No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys in either halves of his career.

Bryant was among the very few players who had come into the NBA directly from high school. 24 was Bryant’s first high school number. But when he started his NBA career with the Lakers in 1996, George McCloud was already using the jersey. Meanwhile, No. 33 was another number he had used during his high school days. However, the Lakers had already retired the jersey in honor of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

He eventually came up with No. 8 by adding up the digits in the number he used in his Adidas camp. He used the number 143 in Italy when he was younger, and started using number 8 as a memoir.

In his second season, Bryant became the youngest NBA All-Star ever. Over the course of his career, Bryant won five titles. Bryant sported the No. 8 jersey until 2006 when he changed to No. 24. By then, he had already achieved a three-peat with the Lakers. He had won the MVP award and two more titles later with No. 24, which he sported till the end of his career. With Bryant achieving success with both the jerseys, it was difficult for the Lakers to choose only one jersey to retire.

Kobe Bryant held importance for both No. 8 & 24

The Lakers retired the jerseys in a ceremony in 2017. For Bryant, the numbers had their own significance. He wanted to change his jersey to mark a new beginning when the Lakers traded Shaquille O’Neal. It was also in the previous year that he was involved in a sexual assault case. But he had to wait to swap his jersey number as the time had passed. One thing that remained common was growth.

“When I first came in at 8, is really trying to ‘plant your flag’ sort of thing,” Bryant had told ESPN. “I got to prove that I belong here in this league. I’ve got to prove that I’m one of the best in this league. You’re going after them. It’s nonstop energy and aggressiveness and stuff.

“Then 24 is growth from that. Physical attributes aren’t there the way they used to be, but the maturity level is greater. Marriage, kids. Start having a broader perspective being one of the older guys on the team now, as opposed to being the youngest. Things evolve. It’s not to say one is better than the other or one’s a better way to be. It’s just growth.”

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