LeBron James donned No. 6 for the last two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. But the King will go back to wearing No. 23 for the 2023-24 NBA season.
James has made the decision in light of the league-wide decision to retire No. 6 following Bill Russell’s death last year. ESPN recently posted a graphic featuring the career stats of James wearing No. 23 and No. 6.
Two jersey numbers. Two Hall of Fame careers 👑 pic.twitter.com/8AsHH6QMEg
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 17, 2023
Does it sound familiar? According to NBA fans, it was an attempt by ESPN to recreate Kobe Bryant’s two Hall of Fame careers with two jerseys for LeBron James. Fans berated the network for the attempt.
A fan posted Kobe Bryant’s numbers with No. 8 and No. 24.
Mamba was fairly balanced in either number pic.twitter.com/sMW4JcDpiC
— Respectfully Seb (@SebMeetsWorld) July 17, 2023
A few fans called out James for trying to be like Kobe.
Ripping off Kobe
— Tommy Leihbacher (@23Tommy24) July 17, 2023
https://twitter.com/AlphaKabin4/status/1681027542239653888
We did this already. pic.twitter.com/ffkpSJinsx
— ♥️🖤💚🇩🇴8️⃣Scott Anthony2️⃣4️⃣🇵🇷 (@kxng_cardona) July 17, 2023
A fan called ESPN trash.
This is why @espn is trash.
— Uncleshiesty (@uncleshiesty) July 17, 2023
According to the original Twitter post, ESPN believes James has already had two Hall of Fame careers with his two jerseys. While wearing No. 23, James has 27,448 points, 2 NBA Championships, 2 NBA Finals MVPs, 2 regular season MVPs, 13 All-NBA selections, and 13 NBA All-Star selections.
On the other hand, he has 11,204 points, 2 NBA Championships, 2 NBA Finals MVPs, 2 regular season MVPs, 6 All-NBA selections, and 6 NBA All-Star selections while wearing No. 6.
To be honest, James has a Hall of Fame worthy career with both jerseys. But the Mamba had more balanced careers with each jersey.
Kobe Bryant’s Stats No. 8 vs. No. 24
Kobe Bryant wore each jersey for 10 seasons. With No. 8, the Mamba had 16,866 points, 3 NBA Championships, 8 All-NBA selections, 6 All-Defensive selections, 8 NBA All-Star selections, and a Scoring Championship.
Bryant wearing No. 24, had 16,717 points, 2 NBA Championships, 2 NBA Finals MVPS, 1 regular season NBA MVP, 7 All-NBA selections, 6 All-Defensive selections, 10 NBA All-Star selections, and a Scoring Championship.
Despite changing from No. 8 to No. 24, Bryant didn’t let his stats suffer and had a phenomenal run with each number. It’s no surprise that the Los Angeles Lakers retired both of Kobe’s numbers after his retirement.
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