Although Kobe Bryant has been asked many times, he still isn't sure who would win a mystical game of one-on-one between the young Kobe in his No. 8 Lakers jersey and his older self, who wore No. 24.
FILE - At left, in a Jan. 25, 2013, file photo, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant goes up for a dunk during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, in Los Angeles. At right, in a July 12, 1996, file photo, Kobe Bryant. (AP Photo/File)
"I kind of go back and forth," Bryant said with a sly grin. "But 8 has something that 24 will never, ever, ever have, and that's the ability to grow hair."
The Lakers couldn't choose, either. So they honored both eras of Kobe's incredible career.
In an NBA first, the Lakers on Monday night retired both jersey numbers worn by Bryant, the leading scorer in franchise history.
Bryant attended the Lakers' game against the Golden State Warriors for a halftime ceremony at Staples Center, which was packed with fans eager to bear witness once again to the beloved superstar scorer. Dozens of Bryant's former teammates showed up, including Shaquille O'Neal and Derek Fisher, along with the Lakers' usual cavalcade of celebrity fans.
Former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant talks during a news conference before an NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors in Los Angeles, Monday, Dec. 18, 2017. Bryant will get his jersey retired during the halftime show. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
"I feel great," Bryant said after entering Staples Center while pushing a stroller containing Bianka Bella Bryant, his infant daughter. "I'm very proud I get to come here with my family. It feels good as a father to have my family come in and share this."
Bryant is the 10th player with a retired jersey for the 16-time NBA champion Lakers. His numbers were revealed high on the Staples Center wall, flanking the banner honoring Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn.
"It's not about the jerseys that are hanging up there for me," Bryant told the cheering crowd. "It's about the jerseys that were hanging up there before. They inspired me to play the game at a high level."
Magic Johnson and Lakers owner Jeanie Buss gave brief tributes to Bryant at halftime, with Magic boldly declaring, "We're here to celebrate the greatest who ever wore the purple and gold."
Former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant speaks during a halftime ceremony retiring both of his jersey's during an NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors, in Los Angeles, Monday, Dec. 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Buss cleverly explained the reasoning behind the Lakers' decision to hang two jersey numbers for Bryant: "If you separated each of the accomplishments under those numbers, each of those players would qualify for the Hall of Fame."
"I thank you for staying loyal to the purple and gold and remaining a Laker for life when it might have been easier for you to leave," Buss added.
Along with Bryant's 33,643 points, the five-time NBA champion and 18-time All-Star selection also leads the Lakers in games played (1,346), 3-pointers (1,827), steals (1,944) and free throws (8,378). Bryant is the third-leading scorer in league history.
He also was the first player to spend at least 20 seasons with one franchise, and he is widely beloved in Southern California, where he still lives with his family.
"He's everything in this city," said Lakers coach Luke Walton, Bryant's teammate on the last two title teams.
"To play his entire career for one organization, in modern sports, it really doesn't happen very often anymore," Walton added. "To go through two different championship runs, I think the Lakers are such a huge part of this city that people feel connected to him. ... They feel as if they were on that journey with him, with us, and I think that's why there's such a connection."
The Lakers celebrated by closing down the street outside Staples Center and staging a street fair dubbed "Kobeland," complete with a Ferris wheel and many other games and attractions. Thousands of fans crowded into the downtown streets several hours before the game just to appreciate the atmosphere.
The Lakers typically only retire the numbers of players enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Bryant isn't eligible until 2021, but the Lakers decided not to wait for that formality — and for Kobe, they doubled up the honor.
Bryant switched jersey numbers halfway through his career, neatly dividing the eras of his 20 years with the Lakers. The No. 8 Bryant won three NBA titles, and the No. 24 Bryant won two more before retiring in 2016 with a stunning 60-point performance in his farewell game against Utah.
Bryant even scored almost the same number of points in No. 8 (16,777) as he did in No. 24 (16,866).
When pressed to pick his favorite era of his own career, Bryant reluctantly did it.
"If 8 is playing 24 after he just ruptured his Achilles, then it's a problem for 24," Bryant said. "If 24 is playing 8 when he tore his shoulder, it's a problem for No. 8. so it depends. ... It's really, really tough for me. I think 24 was more challenging, and I tend to gravitate to things that are harder to do, and physically for me, it was really hard to get up night in and night out. It was really a grind."
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to move ahead with $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, bringing the bill to the brink of passage after months of delays and contentious internal debate over how involved the United States should be abroad.
The vote to end a filibuster drew the support of 80 senators — 10 more than supported the bill when the Senate first passed it in February -- virtually guaranteeing that the bill will soon reach President Biden’s desk. A final vote could come as soon as Tuesday evening.
The $61 billion for Ukraine comes as the war-torn country desperately needs new firepower and as Russian President Vladimir Putin has stepped up his attacks. Ukrainian soldiers have struggled to hold the front lines as Russia has seized the momentum on the battlefield and gained significant territory.
Bidentold Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday the U.S. will send badly needed air defense weaponry as soon as the legislation is passed. The House approved the package Saturday in a series of four votes, sending it back to the Senate for final approval.
“The President has assured me that the package will be approved quickly and that it will be powerful, strengthening our air defense as well as long-range and artillery capabilities,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
In fact, U.S. officials said about $1 billion of the aid could be on its way shortly, the bulk following in coming weeks.
The legislation also would send $26 billion in wartime assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief to citizens of Gaza, and $8 billion to counter China in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific. In an effort to gain more votes, Republicans in the House majority also added a bill to the package that could ban the social media app TikTok in the U.S. if its Chinese owners do not sell their stake within a year.
The foreign aid portion of the bill is similar to what the Senate passed in February with some minor changes and additions, including the TikTok bill and a stipulation that $9 billion of the economic assistance to Ukraine is in the form of “forgivable loans.”
Those changes appears to have brought nine additional Republicans on board, meaning a clear majority of the Senate GOP conference supports the legislation. The February vote on an earlier version of the bill was 70-29.
Opening the Senate Tuesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the coming vote was “six months in the making."
“Let us not keep our friends around the world waiting for a moment longer,” Schumer said.
The package has had broad congressional support since Biden first requested the money last summer. But congressional leaders had to navigate strong opposition from a growing number of conservatives who question U.S. involvement in foreign wars and argue that Congress should be focused instead on the surge of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The growing fault line in the GOP between those conservatives who are skeptical of the aid and the more traditional, “Reagan Republicans" who strongly support it may prove to be career-defining for the two top Republican leaders.
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, who has made the Ukraine aid a top priority, said last month that he would step down from leadership after becoming increasingly distanced from many in his conference on the Ukraine aid and other issues. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who put the bills on the floor after praying for guidance, faces threats of an ouster after a majority of Republicans voted against the aid to Ukraine.
McConnell has made clear that stopping Putin is important enough for him to stake his political capital.
“The national security of the United States depends on the willingness of its leaders to build, sustain, and exercise hard power,” McConnell said after House passage Saturday, adding, “I make no apology for taking these linked threats seriously or for urging the Biden administration and my colleagues in Congress to do the same.”
On Tuesday morning, McConnell said the Senate faces a test, “and we must not fail it.”
Johnson said after House passage that “we did our work here, and I think history will judge it well."
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime GOP hawk who voted against it in February because it wasn’t paired with legislation to stem migration at the border, praised Johnson after the vote and indicated he will vote for it this time. “The idea that the United States will be safer if we pull the plug on our friends and allies overseas is wrong,” he said on X.
The revised House package also included several Republican priorities that were acceptable to Democrats to get the bill passed. Those include proposals that allow the U.S. to seize frozen Russian central bank assets to rebuild Ukraine; impose sanctions on Iran, Russia, China and criminal organizations that traffic fentanyl; and potentially ban TikTok in the U.S. if the owner, ByteDance Ltd., doesn’t sell. That bill has wide bipartisan support in the House and Senate.
Opponents in the Senate, like the House, are likely to include some left-wing senators who are opposed to aiding Israel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has bombarded Gaza and killed thousands of civilians. Vermont Sens. Bernie Sanders, an independent, and Peter Welch, a Democrat, both voted against the package in February.
“This bill provides Netanyahu $10 billion more in unrestricted military aid for his horrific war against the Palestinian people,” Sanders said on X just before that vote. “That is unconscionable.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives as the Senate prepares to advance the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan passed by the House, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to his office as the Senate prepares to advance the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan passed by the House, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - Activists supporting Ukraine, demonstrate outside the Capitol in Washington, April 20, 2024. The Senate is returning to Washington to vote on $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine and Israel. They are taking the final steps in Congress to send the legislation to President Joe Biden's desk after months of delays and contentious internal debate over how involved the United States should be abroad. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
