Lakers to honor Kobe by wearing 'Black Mamba' jerseys on Aug. 24

The Los Angeles Lakers will wear their "Black Mamba" jerseys on Aug. 24 to honor late legend Kobe Bryant, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

Bryant wore the Nos. 8 and 24 during his career with the Lakers.

The Lakers were originally expected to wear the special jersey after the first round of the playoffs, as relayed by Melissa Rohlin of Sports Illustrated.

"The Black Mamba jersey has black snakeskin print and 16 yellow stars on its sides, representing the 16 NBA championships that the franchise has won," Rohlin reported.

Bryant and his 13-year old daughter Gianna died along with seven other people in a Jan. 26 helicopter crash.

The Lakers will wear their “Black Mamba” alternative jerseys on 8/24 for Game 4 of the first round against Portland, according to the NBA’s Lockervision website. Kobe Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, shared an image of the uniform, including a white heart patch with the No. 2 for Gigi pic.twitter.com/QKGVmhnOXB
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) August 18, 2020

He spent all 20 of his decorated NBA seasons with the Lakers, winning five championships and a league MVP (2008). He was selected to the Western Conference All-Star tea,m 18 times.

The Lakers open the playoffs Tuesday vs. the Portland Trail Blazers as the top seed in the Western Conference. Aug. 24 is the date for Game 4 of that series.

"A day doesn’t go by when I don’t think about him," James said in a video conference call in July. "And a day doesn’t go by when our organization does not remember him and think about not only Kobe, but Gigi, Vanessa and the girls."