# Why did Kobe Bryant change his number? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 18, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-kobe-bryant-change-his-number/543642 "2010-06-18T03:24:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-kobe-bryant-change-his-number/543642/1 "2010-06-18T03:24:34Z")
Always wondered… just never asked. Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-kobe-bryant-change-his-number/543642/2 "2010-06-18T15:50:43Z")
So everyone who already owned a Bryant jersey would go out and buy another one? That’s always my cynical first thought. I said the same thing when Jordan did it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-kobe-bryant-change-his-number/543642/3 "2010-06-18T16:00:12Z")
According to Wikipedia, he wore 24 and 33 in high school and 24 was the number he always wanted - of course for L.A., [33 is not available](http://kareemabduljabbar.com/). And George McCloud already had 24 during Bryant’s rookie season, so that was out. He picked a number based on a jersey he wore at one of the big basketball camps. I always thought the change was a mistake. 8 struck me as a more distinctive number than 24 and 8 was really not associated with any other player.