The legacy of Kobe Bryant has received a major boost following the announcement made by the Los Angeles Lakers that they will be retiring both his No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys. While he is currently in China, he still celebrated the honor he'll have on December 18th in typical Black Mamba fashion.

Unlike others who may party after finding out the news, or even brag about it, the 39-year-old instead took to his Instagram account to share a photo of himself inside a gym, as he put in some work that started at 4 a.m.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BY9Qz_bAw_t/

The Black Mamba already has that particular time of the day associated with him in some way, owing to his past ESPY speech. He even dug deeper into this in one of Nike's commercials.

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“We’re not on this stage just because of talent or ability,” Bryant said. We’re up here because of 4 a.m. We’re up here because of two-a-days or five-a-days. We’re up here because we had a dream and let nothing stand in our way. If anything tried to bring us down, we used it to make us stronger.”

Throughout his career, Bryant made a name for himself as a fierce competitor, who always wanted to become the best player that he can be. His work ethic has also been given a lot of credit, and based on his latest photo, he still maintains that burning passion despite not playing professional basketball anymore.

The five-time NBA champion continues to be one of the most popular athletes in the world up to this day, and this recent development will only strengthen his case as one of the best ever. It will also serve as an inspiration to many to keep working on their dreams.