Lakers To Retire Kobe Bryant’s Jersey

The Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday announced they will retire Kobe Bryant's No. 8 and No. 24 in a ceremony Dec. 18 during their game against the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. The decision to hang Bryant's numbers in Staples Center comes as a surprise to just about nobody, as the Hall of Fame beckons for one of the game's all-time great scorers. "As a kid growing up in Italy, I always dreamed of my jersey hanging in the Lakers rafters, but I certainly never imagined two of them," Bryant said in a statement.