Bryant wore the no. 24 shirt for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and his death in a helicopter crash on Sunday has hastened a debate over a shirt number that is often eschewed by Brazilian footballers because of anti-gay prejudice. The number 24 represents the deer in an illegal but popular Brazilian numbers game. The deer has long been associated in Brazil with homosexuality and many teams and players prefer not to use the 24 shirt to avoid abuse or innuendo.