Kobe’s numbers
In a nutshell, the Lakers can retire Bryant’s two numbers if they so desire. Significantly, general manager Mitch Kupchak broached the possibility during an event held for holders of season tickets early this year. “I don’t know the answer,” he disclosed.
In the wake of my piece on “Kobe Bryant Day” yesterday, I received an inordinate amount of reader feedback that delved on which of the two numbers he wore through his 20-year career the Lakers should retire in his name. The quick answer, of course, is that either will suffice; after all, he played 10 seasons donning 8 and 10 seasons donning 24, and his stats for each are strikingly similar. He amassed 16,866 points, 3,634 rebounds, and 3,148 assists through 25,239 minutes in the first decade and 16,777, 3,413, and 3,158 through 23,398, respectively, in the second. To be sure, they are borne as much of happenstance as of consistency; he played relatively limited minutes early on and suffered from a cacophony of injuries late. Then again, there can be no questioning his impressive body of work either in halves or in totality.
There is, of course, cause to argue that the premise is wrong. Nobody ever said a player has to be honored a certain way. And if there’s any National Basketball Association franchise only too willing to break from supposed tradition, it’s the Lakers. They retired broadcaster Chick Hearn’s microphone along with numbers belonging to Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Gail Goodrich, Jamaal Wilkes, and Shaquille O’Neal. Likewise, they paid tribute to their Minneapolis roots by citing George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Vern Mikkelsen, Slater Martin, Clyde Lovellette, and head coach John Kundla without sending any jersey to the rafters.
In a nutshell, the Lakers can retire Bryant’s two numbers if they so desire. Significantly, General Manager Mitch Kupchak broached the possibility during an event held for holders of season tickets early this year. “I don’t know the answer,” he disclosed. “Obviously, it’s going to be 8 [or] 24. Or it could be both.” And while the notion does set the future Hall of Famer apart from other all-time greats who wore purple and gold, it’s fair to contend that none of the others sported more than one number, and that, had they done so, they would also have been in the same position.
Notably, Bryant himself has not expressed a preference for one over the other, although if I were to venture a guess, I’d say he’s partial to 24. For one thing, he changed to it midstream; he would have stuck with 8 were he otherwise satisfied. For another, he had it on his jersey when he claimed his lone Most Valuable Player award and, more importantly, two championships (and Finals MVP awards) absent any shadows cast by O’Neal and bench tactician Phil Jackson. In any case, he’s right when he pointed out in response to a query from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne yesterday that, no matter what number is feted, “it’ll be pretty hard for
someone else to wear the other one.” Amen.