Around this time of year, athletes often pay tribute to Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant as his birthday was on Aug. 23 and then “Mamba Day” is celebrated on Aug. 24 due to his jersey numbers 8 and 24.
Bryant’s impact and legacy are still felt all across the world, most notably at the 2024 Olympics when athletes like A’Ja Wilson and Hailey Van Lith channeled him in order to win medals. Bryant famously coined the “Mamba Mentality,” which millions of people have adopted in their own lives in order to maintain a strong work ethic.
One other sport that Bryant was fond of was tennis, and it’s clear he left an impact on those athletes as well. Novak Djokovic notably had a close relationship with Bryant and has often paid tribute to him since his passing in 2020.
Naomi Osaka and Nick Kyrgios are also huge Bryant fans and chose to wear his jerseys when coming out for their recent exhibition mixed doubles match at the inaugural US Open Mixed Madness event:
Osaka and Kyrgios went on to explain that is was both of their decisions to wear the Bryant jerseys, via Victoria Chiesa of the US Open:
“Naomi’s the captain of the team so she gave the orders for me to wear this and I just had to follow suit,” Kyrgios later said—even though Osaka interjected to joke that the Aussie as the “fashionista” between the two.
“I guess it was a group decision,” she quipped.
Osaka can be seen wearing Kobe’s Black Mamba jersey while Krygios is wearing a gold one that features both the numbers 8 and 24.
Unfortunately, Osaka and Kyrgos lost their match to Amanda Anisimova and Taylor Fritz, but regardless, it was cool to see them show love to Bryant, who obviously had a huge impact on both of their respective careers.
Nike putting up Kobe Bryant murals for 2028 Olympics
The Olympics will be returning to Los Angeles in 2028, which will be another chance to celebrate Kobe Bryant, who helped bring home two gold medals for Team USA in 2008 and 2012.
In fact, the celebration seems to have begun four years ahead of time as Nike has begun putting up murals of Bryant across L.A. to get ready for the games.
There also is a custom emblem dedicated to Bryant that his wife Vanessa recently unveiled for LA28.
Perhaps no one embodies the city of Los Angeles more than Kobe, and that will be reflected during the Olympics in 2028.
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