Before bringing up the tragic news or how the NBA should honor Kobe Bryant, let’s take a look at Kobe Bryant and his basketball career. The numbers speak for themselves.

25 PPG

5.2 Rebounds

4.7 Assists

18x All-Star

5x NBA Champion

12x All-Defensive

4x All-Star MVP

2007-08 NBA MVP

2x Scoring Champion

15x All-NBA

1996-97 All-Rookie

2x NBA Finals MVP

Not many players in NBA history have accomplished as much as Kobe has in his career. He is one of the best players to ever touch the basketball court and the numbers speak for itself.

For more on Kobe Bryant as a player listen to my recent podcast, The Matt Kempter Podcast where I discuss more about Kobe Bryant.

Off-Court Impact

Kobe Bryant has impacted the game of basketball than just playing the sport. He was a global idol and was rooted for just as hard, if not harder than Laker’s legends like Magic Johnson and Jerry West. Kobe Bryant instilled happiness into the hearts of Lakers fans with his play on the court and watching him succeed helped people get through hard times.

Kobe also had an impact on a fair share of young NBA players, many of them grew up watching him and wanting to be him. He began to help out young players develop in the game of basketball, one of the young players he helped was Jayson Tatum. Kobe had worked Tatum out and handed down some of his mamba secrets to him.

Another young player Kobe had been working with was his thirteen-year-old daughter, Gianna. Gianna played basketball for a team coached by Kobe out of the Mamba Sports Academy training facility. Gianna showed promise with the game of basketball and had been getting a name for herself because she was being posted on popular media outlets such as Overtime and Bleacher Report. She not only had the skill but also was a student of the game. Just a month ago she and Kobe had been seen sitting courtside at an NBA game, at the game Kobe is filmed explaining what is happening on the court to Gianna.

Tragedy

This past weekend, Kobe Bryant passed away in a helicopter accident. He and eight other people passed away in this terrible accident. One of the other victims was Kobe’s thirteen-year-old daughter Gianna.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, they were on their way to Gianna’s travel basketball game when the helicopter crashed. The devastation from this event has sparked a large number of emotions from everywhere in the sports world. Neymar, a forward for Paris Saint-Germain F.C. (PSG), showed Kobe Bryant a tribute after scoring a goal in his game. Also, in the Spurs vs. Raptors game, both teams took a 24-second shot clock violation in their first possession of the game to honor number 24, Kobe Bryant. The NBA needs to honor a legend like Kobe Bryant.

How they should Honor Kobe?

The topic of how the NBA should honor legend Kobe Bryant is a recent discussion on twitter, with petitions going around to make him the new logo of the league. Although the logo could be changed in the future, the discussion most likely will not happen until after this season.

The league should take immediate action and honor Kobe and Gianna Bryant in this year’s All-Star game. One team should wear Kobe’s number 8, while the other team wears Kobe’s number 24. The captains of the two teams, Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James, should both wear number 2, in honor of Gianna.

I first saw this idea tweeted from Sports Illustrated Reporter Chris Mannix. This is the best way to take immediate action and recognize not only the player Kobe Bryant was but the man he was as well as his impact on the game of basketball worldwide. Not only should they do this for the All-Star game, but they should also do it for the Celebrity Game and the Rising stars challenge.

Everyone across the league felt the impact when Kobe Bryant passed away. Players and coaches around the league were all seen holding back tears when talking about and hearing the news. There’s no better place to honor him than at this year’s all-star game, where many of his former coaches, teammates, and most importantly friends will all be in attendance.

The Matt Kempter Podcast: RIP Kobe (Episode #2)