The L.A. Lakers are planning to retire Kobe Bryant’s jersey in the Dec. 18 game when Steph Curry and the world champion Golden State Warriors are scheduled to be in the house.
TMZ reports multiple sources have confirmed that as the plan, though team brass has been tight-lipped about the affair.
TMZ adds team management recently sent out a letter to season ticket holders strongly advising them to “hold on to your tickets” for that night’s matchup, also billed in the correspondence as a “special event.”
Bryant played 20 NBA seasons, all with the Lakers, winning five titles and being named an All-Star 18 times. Widely considered one of the game’s greatest ever, he was also named to 15 All-NBA teams.
Bryant retired after the 2015-16 season, netting 60 points in his final game, a come from behind win over the Utah Jazz before an adoring Staples Center crowd.
With so many accomplishments in the bag, the only question remaining about Bryant’s jersey someday hanging from the rafters at Staples Center has long been what number the jersey will bear.
Bryant famously wore numbers 8 and 24 while with the team.
Bryant is set to join fellow Lakers’ greats Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, James Worthy, Jerry West, and Jamaal Wilkes in having his jersey retired.
O’Neal, who won three straight titles alongside Bryant in L.A starting in 2000, was the last player so feted.
The Staples Center arena is expected to be filled to capacity that night, as one intriguing development after another is slated to take center stage.
The night also highlights just the second time L.A. and NBA fans will be able to see former league MVP Curry face off against L.A. hotshot rookie guard Lonzo Ball.
USA Today previously reported Lavar Ball infamously claimed his son is better than Curry, who recently responded to all the chatter.
Curry recently told the Charlotte Observer the idea of comparing the two at this point in their respective careers in yet another indicator of Lavar Ball’s “insanity.”
He later added, “I don’t know him at all. They (Ball family) are obviously unique and they are doing it their way. You can say a lot about the[m] in that. And I think Lonzo wore my shoes.”
With Curry and Kevin Durant leading the way, the Warriors dispatched of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games in last season’s Finals and have now won two of the last three NBA titles.
[Featured Image by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images]
