The NBA will honor Kobe Bryant in a number of ways at the upcoming All-Star Game in Chicago. The league announced format changes for the game, most notably a fourth quarter race to a target score that, this year, will be 24 points more than whatever the team leading the game has after three quarters.
Beyond that, there are other plans in place for how to honor Kobe, Gianna, and the others killed in the tragic helicopter crash from a week ago. Among them is both teams will all wear the same number, with Team Giannis wearing No. 24 for Kobe and Team LeBron wearing No. 2 for Gianna. It’s a touching tribute to both Bryants, and on Monday LeBron offered an explanation for why he chose for his team to wear the No. 2.
James told reporters (at the 4:40 mark of the below video) that the league came to him and asked which of the numbers he wanted his team to wear and he chose two, because of his daughter Zhuri.
🎥 LeBron James talks about why he chose the No. 2 jersey for the All-Star game and how the team can move forward. pic.twitter.com/V83Toecdkg
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 3, 2020
In the week since Bryant’s death there have been countless stories shared about Bryant and the work he’d done on and off the court, but none stuck more than Elle Duncan’s tribute on SportsCenter where she told a story of Kobe fawning over his daughters and how much he loved being a “Girl Dad.” The #GirlDad hashtag has blown up across social media with fans posting their own stories of loving having daughters and it has been really cool to see. LeBron has done so as well and this choice is just the latest in showing the impact of Bryant’s legacy beyond the floor.
