Kobe Bryant Started His Career as Number 8, however Why Did He Switch to Number 24?

24 is particularly one quantity above a pretty mythical player who wore 23 for many of his career within the NBA.

Feb. 9 2024, Published 11:01 a.m. ET

After five championships and two complete a long time within the league, everyone knew that Kobe Bryant would cross down as probably the most best possible players to ever play basketball. His tragic death only some layers further cemented his legacy, and made everybody respect his greatness much more.

As fanatics look again at Kobe's time within the career, some have noted that he modified his jersey number halfway thru his career. He received his first three championships as number 8, and then modified his number to 24 during the 2006-2007 season. Here's what we find out about why he made that change, and what he said about it.

Why did Kobe wear 8 and 24?

Kobe began his career wearing number 8, however eventually moved to number 24 for the remainder of his career. At the time, Kobe explained the move, pronouncing it signified "growth" for him as a player.

"Then 24 is a growth from [No. 8]," he mentioned "Physical attributes aren't there the way they used to be, but the maturity level is greater. Marriage, kids. Start having a broader perspective being one of the older guys on the team now, as opposed to being the youngest. Things evolve."

It turns out, then, that Kobe merely took on a new number to signify that he used to be now not a tender guy. He needed to transition into the position of an established megastar and chief, and he sought after a new quantity for that a part of his adventure.

Why take on number 24, though? Kobe's long-time frenemy Kevin Garnett had his personal theories about why Kobe had made up our minds to change to number 24.

"People don't even know [what] the 24 stands for," Kevin mentioned. "People don't even understand that that was a sign to everybody that he was a step above 23 [Michael Jordan's jersey number], if y'all even got that."

""That's why he went 24, that was a shot at Mike, immediately up, like, I'm better than you," he continued. "It truly stood on it. And in the event you have a look at every goal or each and every document that Mike Jordan has had, Kobe chased it."

Kobe sought after to be observed as the best of all-time.

Kobe's pressure to be noticed as the best could have been a part of the cause of his resolution to position number 24 on, but he wasn't in the end able to catch Michael Jordan in finals wins, finals MVPs, or league MVPs. Thanks to his longevity, even though (he performed for a complete of 20 years), he did pass Michael in career points and in All-Star recreation appearances.

In most rankings of the best players to ever seem within the league, Kobe is at least 3rd, falling at the back of both Michael Jordan and LeBron James, whose careers overlapped with his own. Even so, Kobe's overwhelming hunger to compete and prove himself was part of what made him an all-time nice, and that extended even to his choice to wear the number 24 for the decade of his career.

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