John Kim Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers will continue to set Kobe Bryant apart from the rest of the retired stars in NBA history with a jersey retirement ceremony for the ages. The Black Mamba will have both of his jersey numbers, 8 and 24, retired by the Californian franchise, which marks the first time an NBA player will have two different numbers permanently off the books by one team. To celebrate this occasion, Nike is dropping Air Force 1 options on iD specific to Kobe’s career around tip-off of tonight’s game (approx. 7:30 PM PST), similar to how the “Mamba Day” iD options were dropped back in April of 2015. Additionally a special edition t-shirt will be launched around 8:24 PM PST on Nike.com and select retailers in LA.
Furthermore, Nike has revived the epic “MVPuppets“, the key characters from a 2009 ad campaign that features Kobe and LeBron in puppet form. In three parts titled “Burden”, “Uncle Charlie”, and “Handicrafts”, the two characters discuss how Kobe has laid the groundwork for having two numbers retired by one team while debating which “Kobe” was better.
In other Kobe retirement news, New Era will release a limited edition fitted cap priced at a whopping $5,824.08.
