The Los Angeles Lakers will try to win their 17th NBA Championship in Black Mamba Fashion.
The Lakers wear their “Black Mamba” uniform, designed in honor of the late Kobe Bryant in Game 5 on Friday. A team source confirmed to ESPN that the Lakers were ready to wear black alternate uniforms in games 2 and 7 of the NBA Finals. But in Game 5 on Friday, the Lakers could claim their 17th NBA title as they win the Miami Heat 3-1 in seven NBA Finals.
The Lakers are 4-0 this postseason when they wear a black uniform designed by Nike in collaboration with Bryant. The Lakers and the city of Los Angeles mourned the deaths of Bryant and his daughter Guyana, one of nine people killed in a helicopter crash in January.
“Mamba and Mambasita jerseys allowed for Game 5,” Vanessa Bryant wrote in an Instagram story on Wednesday night. “Let’s go @ la la curs.”
Lakers coaches Frank Vogel, LeBron James and Anthony Davis have often spoken about Bryant’s legendary “mamba mentality” and his relentless desire to win. The Lakers dedicated the rest of the season to Bryant, who, after his death, played all 20 seasons of his career in purple and gold.
James and Davis received tattoos in Bryant’s honor. The team shouted “1-2-3 mamba!” When broken huddles.
Davis hit the game-winning, buzzer-defeated 3-pointer against the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals and said the “black mamba” uniforms worn by the Lakers provide inspiration for the game.
“Obviously, we’re representing that,” Davis said after the 105-103 win. “Especially in that jersey. It’s his jersey, he made it, and we want to win it at any moment.”
Two years before Bryant’s death – against the Chicago Bulls, the Lakers wear Bryant-inspired uniforms on January 26, 2018.
The optional uniform is part of the “Laker Lore Series”, which included a jersey inspired by Magic Johnson in 2018-19 and another jersey by Schwick O’Neill in 2019-20.
The Lakers ‘black mamba uniform features snakeskin prints and drop shadows on the numbers, a flashback to the details of the Lakers’ uniform during a 1996-97 robbery by Bryant.
The report contributed to ESPN’s Dave McMany.
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