Lakers will retire both of Kobe Bryant’s jersey numbers instead of one

After not hearing for a while what would happen, the Lakers have reportedly decided to retire both of Kobe Bryant’s jersey numbers from his career.

Entering the conversation of greatest of all-time, Kobe Bryant didn’t wait for anyone to let him in. Instead, he earned it through hard work and dedication to a game and craft that he was able to ultimately perfect.

And when he did, the world took notice and it hasn’t been the same place since.

Over the course of his career, Bryant wore both the No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys and had a great amount of success with both. As reported in a story from SB Nation, the Lakers made the call on how to handle the future Hall-of-Famer’s jersey situation.

Ramona Shelbourne, a senior writer for ESPN, reported the same scenario in a tweet on Tuesday.

It was going to be a hard choice regardless of how the team went about this, but it seems as though this was the only option they had. Michael Jordan wore another number during his time in the league, but it wasn’t a number that he was necessarily as great it by any means.

Kobe Bryant, however, excelled just as well after dropping the eight to move on to double digits. The only argument against retiring both numbers is one that not a lot of Lakers fans want to hear. It only makes sense in a world where everything is fair, as Bryant is the first person to have two numbers retired by the same team in any sport, and it’s just not realistic.

Honestly, the most exciting part about this news is the simple fact that they actually made up their mind on what to do moving forward. It was a lot harder to process the situation before a decision had been made, but now we’re not left wondering what will happen.

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There’s still plenty to watch with regard to the way that both the media, fans, and current players react to it. But there’s no question that it puts Bryant on a level all his own just one more time.