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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The jerseys will be hanging in their lockers when the Los Angeles Lakers reach Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Friday night (Saturday Manila time). Black sweaters, trimmed in gold, with a snakeskin print on the outside to make it even more unique.
They are the Black Mamba t-shirts.
Designed by Kobe Bryant, and now used for Kobe Bryant.
“We never want to lose in these jerseys,” Lakers forward Anthony Davis said.
Nobody wants to lose in no jersey, of course, but the Lakers would feel like they are disappointing Bryant if they fall short in that uniform. The tribute jersey is just one of many ways Bryant’s fingerprints are in all these NBA Finals between the Lakers and Miami Heat. It is the first series of league titles since Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash on January 26.
It’s no secret: This Lakers playoff run is always on Bryant’s mind.
“They have something special they want to do. You can’t deny it,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “It is not surprising that he passes away and that becomes his motivation to win the NBA championship and be in the final. It is not strange at all. I want to win and do it for Kobe too … so I get it.”
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Bryant is the player Adebayo grew up idolizing. His favorite memory from All-Star weekend was not his skills competition championship trophy, but the Bryant jersey that all the players received. His favorite sneakers are not just the Kobe 5, but the purple and gold Kobe 5, the colors of the Lakers. So you understand why this Lakers team is motivated to win in Bryant’s memory.
“It still doesn’t feel real to this day,” Adebayo said. “But you see the effect it had on the world.”
Many of the Lakers wear Bryant’s sneakers to games, and assistant coach Jason Kidd often wears them too. At least four members of the Heat – Adebayo, Andre Iguodala, Solomon Hill and Jae Crowder – also regularly wear Kobe sneakers.
Bryant won five titles with the Lakers, the last of which came in 2010. Until now, the Lakers had not returned to the final since then. Now, they are three wins away from a 17th championship in franchise history, which would tie the Boston Celtics for the most in history.
Bryant would have loved it, of course.
“It’s hard not to think about him, whether you’re part of this organization or not,” Lakers guard Danny Green said. “It will always have an impact on the game and it will have a presence, especially for us.”
More than eight months have passed since Bryant’s death. The Lakers’ tributes haven’t faded or slowed down in that time.
Lakers break up crowds yelling “One, two, three, Mamba!” A patch with the initials “KB” adorns some of his jerseys now, a “2” for Gianna Bryant is placed on some others. A Kobe Bryant creed – “Leaving a Legacy” – has become the team’s marketing slogan and rallying cry for these playoffs. He helped Nike design the jerseys about three years ago, and came up with the idea for the snakeskin texture, the obvious nod to his nickname Mamba.
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The Lakers are 3-0 on those jerseys so far in these playoffs, including a win over Portland from Aug. 24 to Aug. 24, the two numbers Bryant wore in his purple and gold career.
The score at one point that night was Lakers 24, Blazers 8.
“When I looked up and saw 24-8, I thought, ‘Okay, he’s here in the building,'” Lakers forward LeBron James said.
The post-game routine in the NBA season reboot bubble at Walt Disney World is different than it was before the pandemic. There are no showers in the arena, so players leave the court, change their uniforms and normally change into a jersey and shorts, and then return to the hotel to clean up.
I mean, except that night with the Mamba against the Blazers jerseys. Davis didn’t want to take off his shirt that night. And when Davis hit a game-winning triple at the buzzer in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against Denver, the Lakers were simply wearing the Mamba jersey.
“He’s a guy that, especially in this organization, we’ll always think about,” Green said. “Not just me and my teammates, but everyone in the league. Every time they step on the floor, they represent the guys who came before us, and he was one of those pioneers who was unbelievably great in everything he did inside. and off the ground. “
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