The Los Angeles Lakers retired the jersey of legend Kobe Bryant on Monday, December 18th when they took on the Golden State Warriors. It was one of the two most memorable days in Lakers' history alongside Bryant's epic 60-point performance in the final game of his 1,346 game career.
One of Bryant's teammates at the time was Lou Williams, who was traded to Houston and back to Los Angeles since that game. Williams didn't play in the Lakers' regular season finale on April 13, 2016, but was actively cheering on Bryant as he looked to close out his career with a bang. In the wake of Bryant's jersey retirement, Williams spoke about what it was like to be in the arena on Bryant's team for his final game.
“It meant a lot to be a part of such a storied career man,” said Williams after scoring 21 points to help the Clippers defeat the Kings. “Mamba was one of those guys that everybody has looked up to that ever strived to be a great basketball player and to have the opportunity to share the locker room and the floor with him and be a part of that game, it meant a lot.”
As many have seen, Bryant got one one, but two jerseys retired for his Time with the Lakers. Wearing #8, Bryant helped the Lakers to three consecutive NBA Championships in the early 2000's. He was also able to record the second-greatest scoring game in NBA history with 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in January of 2006.
Bryant switched over to #24 where he was able to lead the Lakers to another pair of titles in 2009 and 2010 while making 10 All-Star appearances in all 10 seasons wearing that number.
Williams watched the jersey retirement and called the fact that Bryant had two numbers raised to the rafters amazing.
“To see both of his numbers go up, it's amazing,” added Williams. “It's something that all of us should strive for.”
Williams, now in his 13th NBA season, is averaging career highs accross the board with 20.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 2.7 three-pointers per game on 44.3 percent from the field and a career high 40.7 percent from beyond the arc.
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