Historic jersey retirement
Indeed, the Lakers pulled out all the stops for Bryant, who became the only player in National Basketball Association history to have two numbers retired by a single franchise. Fittingly, they were unveiled closest to the court, in the third row of the im
Contrary to speculation, the Warriors did not help the Lakers celebrate the day of Kobe Bryant’s jersey retirement by showing up at the Staples Center extremely shorthanded. As hoops habitues know only too well, the absence of starters Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Zaza Pachulia and vital cog Shaun Livingston weakens the cause of the defending champions, but not to the point where they’re no longer considered favorites to win; after all, they still have former Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant and three-time All- Star Klay Thompson on the marquee. In this regard, it bears noting that, heading into the set- to, they possessed a seasonhigh eight-win steak, one that not coincidentally began against the Lakers on the very same floor late last month.
In any case, Bryant couldn’t have cared less about the outcome of the contest, and not just because the ceremony sending his two uniforms to the rafters occurred at halftime. If anything, the match was a distraction; fans lined up at entrances as early as seven hours before tip- off to see him and not the plodding Lakers. And the same went for the myriad celebrities courtside, who wound up with a RoboJam Special Edition Box for their efforts. Everybody who was anybody milled about even as, outside, Kobeland — complete with an appropriately themed ferris wheel — was packed.
Indeed, the Lakers pulled out all the stops for Bryant, who became the only player in National Basketball Association history to have two numbers retired by a single franchise. Fittingly, they were unveiled closest to the court, in the third row of the immortalized greats, on either side of play- by- play legend Chick Hearn’s microphone. And, fittingly, they represent the last vestiges of an era populated by no- conscience midrange gunners.
Bryant, to be sure, would have thrived under any circumstance. Were he plying his trade today, he would no doubt have developed a far more reliable three-point shot, perhaps even found reason to play with more efficiency. That said, he would still have done things the way no other contemporary could, or — to be more precise — could dare. Which, in a nutshell, is why he
stands apart, even among his so-called peers.