Last week, the Los Angeles Lakers paid tribute to another iconic player in the team’s history. Shaquille O’Neal got his own statue outside of the arena where he used to dawn the purple and gold playing alongside fellow Lakers legend, Kobe Bryant.
With Shaq now having both his No. 34 jersey retired up and a statue at Staples, the attention turns to Kobe. There’s no doubt Bryant will get a statue in front of the arena where he helped lead the franchise to five NBA titles, but the question is what number will he be wearing.
Derek Fisher, a former Lakers teammate of both Kobe and Shaq, chimed in on the debate with an interesting take. Fisher believes Bryant should get two statues outside of Staples Center. One for No. 8 and one for No. 24, as he told TMZ Sports:
“Two statues,” Fisher told TMZ Sports. “One for each number.”
Bryant getting two statues is quite a stretch. One statue with No. 8 on the front and No. 24 on the back seems to make a bit more sense and will take up less space in what is becoming a crowded area filled with statues of Los Angeles sports legends, but stranger things have happened.
As for a time frame, the Lakers have yet to announce when they intend to give Kobe a bronze statue. Unless there’s a sense of urgency, the storied franchise could wait until he has his number or numbers retired at the Staples Center and or gets into the Hall of Fame in the same fashion that Shaq did. Bryant isn’t eligible to enter the Hall of Fame until 2021.