Did 6’6 Kobe Bryant switch from 8 to 24 to one-up his idol, Michael Jordan?

Kobe Bryant has always been vocal about his admiration/rivalry with Michael Jordan – how far would he go to beat him?

Kobe Bryant has always made it a point to show that he is the best player on the court. Even while Michael Jordan was on the court. They had battles that were not long, but very intense. In the end, Kobe almost emulated MJ in his career achievements. While Kobe was robbed of multiple MVPs, he came mighty close to having 2 3-peats of his own.

One thing he also copied MJ in was changing jersey numbers. While Jordan only did it for a little while and switched back to 23, Kobe stuck to his 24 for 300+ games. When asked why the switch, he gave a great answer about how he wanted to enjoy the 24 hours a day, and the effort he put in daily. In another interview, he said he made the switch because he wore 24 in his high school.

But deep down every secretly knows he did it to feel like he had one-upped his idol, with the top comment on the post below speculating the same. He did the same thing with the Olympic jersey, where Jordan wore 9, and Kobe wore 10. Mind games right there. Snakes are known to be masters of deception, and Black Mamba is one of the best at it. Well, he did say he wore 10 to honour Lionel Messi, but we know that’s just a cover story.

Also Read: “LeBron 20s look like a Kobe Bryant signature model!”: NBA Twitter adores Lakers star’s latest line with Nike, likens them to the Black Mamba’s pairs from the past

Kobe Bryant had two hall-of-fame-worthy careers – one with each jersey number

Kobe Bryant played 11 seasons in the number 8 jersey, and 9 seasons wearing the number 24. While Number 8 was brash and in your face, number 24 was calm, menacing and cut-throat. While they were opposites, the results remained the same – they both won championships. Multiple championships too, because he has one ring for every finger on one hand.

The numbers are nearly identical as well – and the accolades are also split right down the middle. These are the awards and accolades for Number 8:

As No. 8:

All-Rookie Second Team (1997)

Slam Dunk Contest Champion (1997)

Scoring Champion (2006)

Eight-time NBA All-Star

All-Star Game MVP (2002)

Four-time All-Defensive First Team

Two-time All-Defensive Second Team

And these are the stats for Number 24:

As No. 24:

Scoring Champion (2007)

Four-time NBA All-Star

Two-time All-Star Game MVP (2007, 2009)

Four-time All-Defensive First Team

Four-time All-NBA First Team

NBA Most Valuable Player (2008)

Two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (2009, 2010)

Each one could have been a hall of fame induction on its own, and Los Angeles Lakers rewarded him by retiring both the numbers. He is the only person to have 2 numbers retired by a team. If given the choice, which version of the Mamba would you choose?

Also Read: “LeBron James and I would be perfect for each other!”: Kobe Bryant rejects the option to play with idol Michael Jordan, choosing the King instead