Kobe Bryant may be long retired, but he’s keeping himself busy and letting his creative juices flow with all his free time. One of the Los Angeles Lakers legend’s most recent projects was taking part in the design of the team’s “city edition” jerseys, which was inspired by Bryant’s “Black Mamba” moniker.

“The snake came to me immediately,” Bryant said per ESPN's Zach Lowe. “It came to me so fast, I was thinking, ‘This can't be that easy. This idea is not going to work.' I spent months trying to talk myself out of it. But in the end, simplicity always wins.”

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Bryant was an active participant in the jersey’s design process. He was instrumental in the final design being clean, basic, and black with the snakeskin print. The jersey incorporates elements of the Lakers uniform during Kobe’s rookie season, which he insisted upon, and also features Kobe’s newly-retired numbers on the flaps of the shorts and on the belt buckle.

The Lakers’ city edition jerseys will be the only ones designed in honor of a franchise legend. The jerseys will debut on Friday, Jan. 26 and will be used during every Friday game for the rest of the season.