Nov 23, 2015

With this looking to be Kobe's final season, I've wondered on a few different occasions what jersey number the Lakers will retire for the Mamba, #8 or #24? ITT I'll do my best to compile all the stats & highlights so we can figure out which Kobe is better.

#8 1996-97 through 2005-06, #24 2006-07 through 2015-16

Statistical Averages: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bryanko01.html#per_game::none

Awards & Achievements:
5× NBA champion (2000–2002, 2009–2010)
2× NBA Finals MVP (2009–2010)
NBA Most Valuable Player (2008)
17× NBA All-Star (1998, 2000–2015)
4× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2002, 2007, 2009,2011)
11× All-NBA First Team (2002–2004, 2006–2013)
2× All-NBA Second Team (2000–2001)
2× All-NBA Third Team (1999, 2005)
9× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2000,2003–2004, 2006–2011)
3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2001–2002,2012)
NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1997)
2× NBA scoring champion (2006–2007)
NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion (1997)
Los Angeles Lakers all-time leading scorer
Naismith Prep Player of the Year (1996)

#8 Highlights

#24 Highlights

What do you guys think?
@NBAsxn

 

Nov 23, 2015

truly a one of a kind player. guys like him don't come around often. i'm so glad i got to see him play live.

as far as which one was better, i'd have to go with #24 kobe. he scored his 81 pts when he wore that number and i think he was more of a polished and disciplined player during that time period

 

Nov 23, 2015

He scored 81 as #8.

 

Nov 23, 2015

lol my bad, it's been a long time. thanks or correcting me.

i stick with what i said about number 24 kobe being better

what about you?

 

Nov 23, 2015

24 was definitely more well rounded overall, not necessarily in terms of skill set but as a leader. #8 is what made me fall in love with basketball. That scoring tear his was on will never be matched by anyone. I believe Kobe said that if he had his choice, they'd retire 24. He's been trying to 1 up MJ his entire career, so I think that was the motivation with the switch in the 1st place. Did the same with his Olympic number. (Kobe 10, MJ 9.)

That being said, he more dominant for a longer period wearing #8, I think if you matched him up 1v1 05 vs his MVP season in 08, #8 would come out on top.

 

Nov 23, 2015

He was THE man as #24 and was more complete imo.

 

Nov 24, 2015

I'm more familiar with his #24 days. He did win an MVP with the number 24 but also had many great seasons with number 8.

I'd have to go with 24.

 

Nov 24, 2015

Honestly a shame that he only has 1 MVP. You could have given it to him any year from 04-09. He was Odom and a bunch of scrubs to the playoffs every year, d--- near beating the 7 seconds or less Suns by himself. This will always be one of my favorite moments from him. I remember going outside that day and practicing that game winning shot for hours lol.


Edit: Look who he was on the court with. Devean George, Smush Parker, Luke Walton, and Lamar Odom.

 

Nov 24, 2015

Kobe was accused of r---, and all he had to do was settle in court for millions of dollars, change his jersey number and win a championship and that soulless town in LA couldn't be prouder. I just hope that when parents let their kids run around in #24 jerseys, they have the decency to say: 'well come on, number 8 was the r--ist.'

 

Nov 24, 2015

It's amazing that down the stretch of a huge playoff game like that, THAT'S who he's on the court with. I can't believe Kobe d--- near knocked out a top offensive team like the Suns basically all by himself.

Anyways I don't think there's a wrong answer in 8 vs. 24. I think Kobe's best years were probably his last few as 8 and first few as 24 although I'd have to look up the years to be sure cuz my memory sucks. 8 was more athletic, 24 was a better shooter and all around player, 24 was also more mature..But holy s--- they were both amazing lol, now I know what it feels like for a father to choose his favorite child.

 

Nov 24, 2015

Yeah I agree. There's not much difference in his game from 04-08 besides his maturity and leadership. Gonna be a sad day when he hangs em up.

 

Nov 24, 2015

I'm gonna cry when he retires although I feel like it's already the beginning of it. The Kobe I watched for a decade or so is basically already gone, and I've started to accept that, but still it'll be a sad day when it's official.

I just hope Kobe has 1 or 2 more moments this year that can be special to look back on when people look at his career and say 'yeah those last few years were really disappointing and filled with injuries but......' and then list a few impressive things from this last season. Like last year for example was a disaster but he still had that game where he went toe to toe with Lebron and put up 17 assists in barely 30 minutes, also played great D on Bron down the stretch. Tonight if the Lakers were to somehow beat the Warriors (tbh I give it less than a 1% chance) and if Kobe played a big role there, THAT could be that moment for this year...but yeah again I don't see it happening tonight..But what could be that big moment for this last season is something like Kobe hitting another game winner, or leading a huge comeback or something...Just hope he has a couple more classic Kobe moments before he's gone.

By the way, Kobe in his prime was the best offensive player I've personally ever seen. It seemed like he could drop 25-40 points on you in 10-15 minutes when he felt like it was needed. I've seen too many stretches where he just caught fire and would s---t like 80+% for a quarter or 2 and just go on a huge rally to put the other team away or very far down.

 

Nov 24, 2015

Not a huge Kobe fan. I'm going with 8. His defense was much better at the time. He was getting all defense nods a few years ago based on name alone.

 

Nov 24, 2015

He's the reason I fell in love with basketball. I'm in the same boat as you though, I've come to grips with the fact that he's done and it feels worse than I thought. That scoring tear he was on in 05 will never be matched by anyone. Seemed like he was scoring 40+ for 2 weeks straight.

 

Nov 24, 2015

Well at one point he did score 40+ for about 2 weeks straight, he had 8 (or 9? can't remember) games in a row with at least 40+ in each game. It wasn't just 05 though, he had a lot of seasons where he put up huge number of points.

 

Nov 24, 2015

It was 03. He scored 40+ in 9 straight games and was the 1st to do it since MJ in 87-88.

What a time.

 

Nov 26, 2015

Hard to choose.....but I'll slightly go with #24 because I felt like he became a better leader & a better shooter once he changed numbers. #8 Kobe was more athletic and reckless. Even though he set amazing records as #8, he won the MVP as #24.

It's gonna be tough watching him retire.....I teared up watching Iverson retire, so no question I will when Kobe does.