Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Kobe Bryant is gone, and in tribute, his numbers might be, too.
The latest to honor the NBA legend is Golden State’s Alec Burks, who is changing from No. 8 to No. 20, the Warriors announced Thursday ahead of their game in Boston.
Burks, whose career overlapped with Bryant’s for five years while Burks was in Utah, no longer will wear one of the jersey numbers that is retired in the Staples Center rafters. No. 24 was the other jersey Bryant wore, and NBA players appear to be unofficially retiring the numbers.
Brooklyn’s Spencer Dinwiddie is moving off No. 8 for No. 26. Detroit’s Markieff Morris will go from 8 to 88, Orlando’s Terrence Ross from 8 to 31, the Clippers’ Moe Harkless from 8 to 11, New Orleans’ Jahlil Okafor from 8 to 9, Denver’s Mason Plumlee from 24 to 7 and Utah’s Miye Oni from 24 to 81. Quinn Cook, of the Lakers, is going from No. 2 to No. 28 to honor Bryant’s daughter, Gianna, who wore No. 2.
Additionally, Dallas owner Mark Cuban stated no Mavericks player would wear No. 24 again.
Bryant, who was killed Sunday in a helicopter crash, has left a hole in the league and world, and the jerseys will reflect that.