Kobe Bryant has been revered as one of the greatest Los Angeles Lakers and champions of all-time. Moreover, he displayed this greatness in both parts of his career – the young #8 and the experienced #24.
On December 18, 2017, Kobe Bryant had his jersey retirement ceremony for the Los Angeles Lakers. After dedicating 20 years to the franchise, Bryant retired at the end of the 2016 season. From the skinny 17-year-old kid to the mentally tough 37-year-old OG, he gave the organization and the league countless memories. For that, Kobe became the first player ever to have two jerseys retired for the one franchise.
He has even been deemed the greatest Laker ever by Magic Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal. With all the obstacles he had to overcome – injuries and personal issues off the court – the Black Mamba proved to be one of the most dedicated players in the history of the game. And with the dedication he put in he came out a winner – a five-time champion.
Kobe has always paid more attention to winning than anything else. He even went as far as to trademark the phrase, “Friends Hang Sometimes Banners Hang Forever.” With that in mind, I will now do a three-part series on Kobe’s best games in winning-time, meaning the NBA Playoffs and Finals.
The first part will look at Bryant’s best playoff games in his No. 8 jersey. The second part will look at his best playoff games in his No. 24 jersey. The last part will compare the five games and look at which respective game was better.
Regardless of if you think No. 8 is better than No. 24 or vice versa, we can all agree that Kobe was a killer in the playoffs. Moreover, he would do absolutely anything to win.