The Lakers Went Absurdly Over The Top To Celebrate Kobe Bryant’s Jersey Retirement

Kobe Bryant will be honored in a big way at Staples Center on Monday evening, as the Los Angeles Lakers will retire both No. 8 and No. 24 in an effort to pay reverence to the future Hall of Fame shooting guard. As you may expect given the flashy nature of the Lakers franchise, the organization isn’t exactly putting together a subtle ceremony for Bryant and, in short, an over-the-top collection of festivities is in the offing.

For starters, the NBA’s typical 15-minute halftime will be extended to 21 minutes in an effort to pack in everything having to do with Bryant and allow the Lakers and Golden State Warriors to adequately prepare for the extended break.

While the six extra minutes may seem like enough, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is (very) skeptical and he isn’t alone.

Prior to tip-off, the Lakers also unveiled “Kobeland” with various references to both numbers.

In short order, the area was chalked full of Lakers faithful, even several hours before the game actually was set to begin.

Two hours before tipoff, the area was buzzing.

For those fortunate enough to secure tickets near the playing surface, the Lakers trotted out the high-end trinkets for this particular event.

Finally, Lakers rookie (and fellow shooting guard) Josh Hart paid tribute to Bryant with his shoes….

…while fellow Laker rookie Kyle Kuzma wrote a letter for No. 8/24.

There are undoubtedly additional surprises to come in this instance and only the Lakers could put on a show quite like this one. The halftime ceremony should be chalked full of notable moments but, even before arrival, the red carpet was rolled out for Kobe.