If you all don’t know, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers will be wearing the number #24 on his jersey starting this season instead of his usual #8.
Kobe Bryant has switched jersey numbers several times since he started playing organized basketball. While playing in Italy as a kid, he wore #8 on his back. Kobe wore #24 for most of his career in Lower Merion Highschool in Pennsylvania, but switched to #33 (what his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant wore in highschool) the year they went to the state championships. When he was acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers on draft day from the Charlotte Hornets, he wore #8 because he couldn’t wear #33 because it was already retired by the Lakers in honor of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Kobe chose the #8 because of two reasons. First, it was the number he wore in Italy. Second, his jersey for the Adidas’ ABCD Camp was 143, which adds up to 8 (1+4+3=8).
When he was recently interviewed during a preseason game, he was asked what his reason was for switching jersey numbers. He didn’t give the answer but rather mentioned about a website called KB24.com which is obviously created for this event. The site launches October 31st.
This only means one thing, if you’re a Lakers fan, you’d have to buy a new jersey before the season starts. Hehe.
*image taken from KB24.com
Written by 
*Don't forget to verify your subscription by clicking the link on the email that Feedburner will send you.*
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:01 AM
@trench – yeah, i don't think he took that much shots compared to Shaq. maybe it's just that people tend to notice Kobe's shots more than the other players.
@charles – when i said that there were no other players to back him up, i was refering to last year's roster. after Shaq left the Lakers. you really did your research. hehe
October 22nd, 2006 at 6:16 PM
ok i exaggerated. but my point is he still took more shots even with more all-stars in the team – disagreeing with jaypee the reason why he took more shots is because there was no other player to back him up.
shaq averages 20 or more in his career
Karl Malone averages 20 in his career
GP averaged 20 in his career
Rick Fox averaged 15 when he was in boston
Glen Rice average 20 in his career
50% is an exaggeration.
so here's the stats from the 2003-2004 season.
Kobe:
Field Goal Attempts – 1,178
Field Goal Made – 516
Shaq:
Field Goal Attempts – 948
Field Goal Made – 554
Shaq made more goals than Kobe had attempted.
Go figure.
October 22nd, 2006 at 4:03 AM
Kobe didnt shoot the ball 50% more than Shaq. Look at the stats. Its like 2-3 attempts more than Shaq. Thats it.
October 21st, 2006 at 10:09 PM
@charles – well he does have the tendency to shoot the ball more than his teammates but that's because he has the go signal from his coach. i think MJ also had the same mentality before he learned that he could trust his teammates and when he did learn to trust them, that was the time when he became more lethal. you raised a good point though.
October 20th, 2006 at 8:28 PM
hmmm … i disagree jaypee.
when shaq was with the Lakers kobe was still shooting almost 30 attemps per game to Shaq's 15 or less.
and considering their team had other players who averaged more than 15 points per game in their career. eg: Glen Rice, Rick Fox, Ron Harper, etc.
October 20th, 2006 at 8:15 PM
@ash – considering who the other players are on their team, sometimes he has no choice but to take over and try to win the game by himself. maybe if there was another player who can back him up, he might not hog the ball that much.
October 20th, 2006 at 7:48 PM
i don't have any plan of buying KB items… you know, he wanna be by himself all the time… hehe
October 19th, 2006 at 2:07 PM
@charles – i guessed right. hehe. for me, the only NBA player that i consider myself to be a fan of is Michael Jordan. after he retired, i have several players whom i like to watch like Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Lebron James. btw, i rooted for Miami in the last NBA Finals.
October 19th, 2006 at 11:30 AM
never a kobe fan man.
i've been a Laker fan since Magic came in 1979.
been following the Lakers during the showtime era as well as the no-show era of the early '90's.
never been a kobe fan even when he was hitting those shots when he was with Shaq.
i'd say i'm more of a Shaq fan.
so that would make me a Lakers (without kobe) and Heat (with Shaq) fan.
:)
October 19th, 2006 at 11:17 AM
@ade – yeah, they're really making this thing into something big. imagine, creating a website just for it.
@charles – hmmm, that's an interesting way of looking at it. i didn't think of that earlier. good point. i'm assuming you're not a Kobe fan, right?
October 18th, 2006 at 7:52 PM
24? ah … 23 then 24.
ahh. got it. aiming to be "next" MJ.
forget the 24 hour statement from KB.
:D
October 15th, 2006 at 9:02 PM
Talk about hype!
October 15th, 2006 at 3:03 AM
@trench – i know you'll always be up-to-date when it comes to Kobe. i also knew about last season. but i only found out about the website recently and since i haven't seen a blog entry about it, i decided to make one.
@cruise – hehe. glad to hear that someone actually learns something from my entries. :D
October 14th, 2006 at 9:47 PM
interesting, may natutunan na naman ako, di na ako mahuhuli sa kwuentuhan sa canteen bukas, mahihilig sa basketball mga ka opisina ko ;)
sana pwede 3 numbers sa jersy, mine would definitely be 247 hehe.
October 13th, 2006 at 9:24 PM
It's the length of one day.
One half. One shot clock.
This number is my promise, to dominate every moment. -Kobe Bryant
October 13th, 2006 at 9:22 PM
Knew about this since before the end of last season… haha. Thanks for sharing though. You cant get news before a die hard Laker fan does. hehe