Fans attending first Lakers game since Kobe Bryant’s death will receive No. 8 and No. 24 shirts

February 1, 2020 Archie Maraasin

The Los Angeles Lakers are playing their first game since Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter accident at the age of 41. Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers on the helicopter also died in the crash. The Lakers will face the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night at Staples Center and are planning to honor Bryant in many ways at the game. The team was originally scheduled to play on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers, but the game was postponed due to Bryant’s death.

When fans enter the arena they will be greeted with Lakers shirts with Bryant’s name on the back. Half the arena will get shirts with No. 24 on the shirt and the other half will receive No. 8 shirts.

The t-shirts are draped on the seats and will no doubt create quite the emotional visual for fans as they walk into the scene of gold shirts.

Bryant changed his number midway through his career once his old high school number became available.

There will surely be an increased amount of Bryant jerseys worn by fans, but for those who do not have a Bryant shirt, the team has them covered tonight.

Since the news of Bryant’s passing, fans, coaches, players and teams have been honoring the Lakers legend in many ways. On the day of the accident, teams took 24-second and 8-second violations to start the game in honor of Bryant’s uniform numbers.

Some players honored Bryant by wearing his number for their first game since the news while others with No. 8 and No. 24 numbers requested to have them changed.

The Lakers already retired both of Bryant’s numbers, making him the first player to ever have two retires numbered by the same organization, and the Dallas Mavericks followed suit after his death and retired No. 24.

Fans have been gathering outside of Staples Center all week with flowers, basketballs, jerseys and messages to Bryant, Gianna and the other victims. With the team resuming action tonight, the arena is sure to see another influx of fans in the area.

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