The 2020 All-Star Game will feature Team LeBron (James) wearing No. 2 jerseys and Team Giannis (Antetokounmpo) wearing No. 24 jerseys, according to a press release issued by the NBA in partnership with the players’ union and Nike. No. 2 was the number worn by Kobe Bryant‘s daughter Gianna, while No. 24 was, of course, worn by Kobe during the second half of his career.
Kobe and Gianna were two of the nine people who died in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday. According to the league’s announcement, both All-Star teams will also wear jersey patches which display nine stars, representing those nine people who lost their lives in the crash.
For Friday’s Rising Stars game and Saturday night’s events – including the dunk contest – the participants will wear jersey patches featuring the Nos. 2 and 24 in the center, surrounded by nine stars.
The uniform changes are one of multiple tributes planned to the late NBA superstar for the 2020 All-Star weekend in Chicago. The league announced on Thursday that it’s tweaking the All-Star format to add a target score in the fourth quarter. That target score will be determined by adding 24 to the total number of points scored through three quarters by the leading team.
24 makes sense
What’s next, a national holiday?
Yeah on May 17th we can remeber the 11 year anniversary of Kobe and the Lakers dismantling the Rockets in game 7.
As a Laker fan and Kobe idol I agree –
Lets have a couple minutes of silence before the game and get back to what Mamba was all about….. playing basketball
Should have let you do the eulogy. Who pissed in your cheerios?
Maybe? Are you being salty? You think Kobe doesn’t deserve this level of respect?
Shouldn’t Team Giannis wear Gianna’s number?
8 and 24 would be more appropriate
I get it… but what about the other two young women that died in the crash? Just because their fathers were not as famous: the daughters are not worth honoring too? If honoring one, why not all?
Relax bro, don’t be such a keyboard warrior. Did you read the article? It said they are also honouring the other victims with 9 stars being put on the jerseys.
I think it’s nice. Kobe was a huge part of the NBA, and was pretty much the superstar that took over MJs mantle. It’s also nice that they didn’t forget the other victims.
Is having a championship banner that represents your team hanging in the arena the same as having your number retired?
9 stars as a representation is nice, but not the same thing as having a team wear her number in tribute.
I agree. We should change the game of basketball to honour all those who died. No more of this 2 team stuff. It’s not fair. 9 teams with 9 players on the court and 9 baskets with 9 balls should do the trick. Free for all style.
For that matter what about every middle school child in the country that dies in an accident? There have been many 13 year old basketball players that have died from car accidents, plane crashes, sudden illness, etc. that haven’t gotten this honor. And sadly there will be many more in the future. What then?
Ridiculous. The trend was to NOT wear 24 or 8. They’re people, not representations. If it matters, Bryant would probably not go for this.
We will look for their kinetic links to tell them apart? Hairstyles, skintone, tattoos? Rely on the commentators?snort
There’s going to be mental effort watching this, keeping track of the players on the floor with all the substitutions, eventually giving up because everyone looks similar jogging back n forth shooting 3s.
The Rising Stars game only has patches; apparently that’s enough in that game.
Yes I too can’t tell what Giannis, Lebron, AD, Luca, Harden, all the stars in the game ect look like without seeing their jersey numbers
Ummm…if I didn’t recognize the player by face I guess I could oh I don’t know maybe….look at the name on the Jersey
The name on the jersey is rarely visible. And being able to tell them apart means you’re giving their body a good looking-at. This is wearing.
amk3510 named recognizable bodies & beards. It’s not, “can you”. It is, Do you want to bother given available viewing options and what you want to be looking at and keeping straight.
If one just wants to see slamdunks and celebrities, it’s okay, whoever.
I bet this gets repealed, but somebody has to complain. They’re going to look silly.
So you think casual viewers that cant readily recognize the players won’t be able to read jersey names, but they would have everyone’s jersey number committed to memory?
I might not always agree with you, but you usually at least make sense. You dropped the ball on this argument.
So how would this be any different from players wearing those nickname jerseys? If you can’t recognize players without their jerseys, then you don’t watch enough NBA, and that’s also fine. Don’t make me use my Chris Tucker voice.
It’s not a contest for viewers. It’s not, can you do this. There’s a reason unis have numbers in the first place. Everywhere, across sports. It’s not because they’re pretty or support promotions.
And I am sure replicas of both jerseys are available for purchase at NBA.com with all proceeds going deeper into the pockets of the promoters.
Let’s just put Kobe’s face on the ball and be done with it.
I wouldn’t want to buy an Embiid all star jersey #24 jersey. It’s not his number. It’s just confusing and disrespectful to Embiid, if not Kobe as well. This is depressing
This is all getting a little ridiculous. We’re about a week out before the fans start pushing back on this. This whole thing is sad but the world keeps spinning and we all have our own lives to live.