It’s been a debate for a long time, but with the recent jersey retirement of Shaquille O’Neal at Staples Center it’s resurfaced once more – which number, eight or 24, should the Lakers retire in honor of Kobe?
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Bryant played the first decade of his career wearing number eight, winning three championships and having his most memorable moment, scoring 81 points on Toronto, while wearing the single-digit numeral. Bryant switched to 24 prior to the 2006-07 season, and went on to win two more championships and his only two NBA Finals Most Valuable Player awards while rocking that number.
This morning we polled Lakers Nation to ask what the fans want to see once the Lakers do hang Kobe’s jersey in the rafters. The results were relatively one-sided.
Here are some of your responses to the poll, and the reasons for those decisions.
@lakersnation #8. won more rings wearing #8.
— Connor Rigg (@Conbon45) April 4, 2013
@lakersnation #24 because he won 2 in a row without any other star player on his team. — Matt Marti (@MattMarti88) April 4, 2013
@lakersnation #24…he may have done the 3peat in 8, but 24 was truly the era of the mamba. — Nettey Farol (@Nettey128) April 4, 2013
Ultimately, I still believe it will be Bryant’s choice. And I feel that he’s going to choose 24 to be the jersey the Lakers hang up. To me, Bryant’s days wearing number eight are still closely associated with Shaq, and when he donned 24 he truly stepped into the limelight as the leader of the team and cemented his legacy as one of the greatest to lace ’em up. While we’re still (at least) a couple years from seeing this happen, there are still those wishful thinkers out there hoping something different will happen;
@lakersnation #Both #8 #24
— gavino (@Gavino_Latino) April 4, 2013
I guess we’ll wait and see.
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In case you missed it, be sure to check out Shaq’s jersey retirement press conference!
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