LA Lakers Pay Respects to Legend Kobe Bryant With 20,000 Commemorative Shirts

Now days since Kobe Bryant’s tragic passing it appears that the outpouring of grief for the NBA legend continues to rain down on the sporting world. 

Ahead of the LA Lakers match the Portland Trail Blazers the Staples Center was awash with 20,000 shirts that had been placed on the seats, all emblazoned with Bryant’s retired 24 and 8 jerseys.

The Lakers were due to take on the Clippers on Friday but understandably that game was postponed following the shock death of their legendary player, who died in a helicopter crash that killed nine, including Bryant’s young daughter Gianna.

The emotional game was preceded by singer Usher singing Amazing Grace and the crowd stood in silence for 24.2 seconds in show of tribute to Bryant in a match the Trail Blazers won the game 127-119, though in many ways the score was meaningless on such an emotional night. 

Over the course of his 20-year NBA career, which Bryant played exclusively with the Lakers, Kobe won five NBA titles (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010), and was the NBA MVP in those last two successes.

He also took part in an astonishing 18 All-Star encounters and amassed a massive 33,643 points over the course of an NBA career that started in 1996 and ended in 2016.

The LA county sheriff’s department continues to investigate the crash and multiple eyewitnesses have stated that they head the helicopter sputter before it came down in Calabasas last month.

Bryant leaves behind three other children and a wife.