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#Mamba  #Jersey #KobeBryant #GiannaBryant  #LosAngelesLakers #RIP Kobe Bryant  played for the Los Angeles Lakers for his entire  20-year career , but he changed jersey numbers halfway through his career. When he made his debut with the team in 1996, after being drafted straight out of high school, Bryant started out with No. 8. “When I first came in at 8, is really trying to ‘plant your flag’ sort of thing,” Bryant told  ESPN  in 2017, shortly before the Lakers  retired both of jersey numbers 8 and 24 . As for why he chose the single-digit number, Bryant, who died on Jan. 26 in a  helicopter crash , had two reasons. No. 8 was not only a nod to the number he wore as a young boy while playing in Italy — where his family lived while his father, former NBA player Joe Bryant,  continued his professional career  — but also, he wore No. 8 at the youth training camp Adidas ABCD camp, where he wore no. 143, which adds up to eight. RELATED:  Vanessa Bryant Remembers Her ‘Angels’