Players take it upon themselves to honor Kobe Bryant

Several NBA players have given up either No. 8 or No. 24 out of respect for the late Kobe Bryant, who was 1 of 9 people killed in a Sunday helicopter crash.

As the debate over the proper way for the NBA to honor Kobe Bryant has continued almost without stop since the soon-to-be Hall of Famer was killed along with his daughter Gianna and seven others in a Sunday helicopter crash in southern California, several NBA players have taken it upon themselves to honor the Los Angeles Lakers legend by changing their uniform numbers.

Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets, a Los Angeles native, was the first player reported to have switched numbers — in his case from No. 8 to No. 26 — and a wave of players have followed suit.

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Also being added to the list have been Markieff Morris of the Detroit Pistons (from No. 8 to No. 88), LA Clippers forward Maurice Harkless (No. 8 to No. 11) and Terrence Ross of the Orlando Magic (No. 8 back to No. 31, which he wore for his first seven seasons before switching last summer).

Mason Plumlee of the Denver Nuggets Wednesday became the first player to give up No. 24, switching to No. 7, while New Orleans Pelicans big man Jahlil Okafor has gone from No. 8 to No. 9. Utah Jazz rookie Miye Oni, another L.A. native, has traded No. 24 for No. 81.

Perhaps the most interesting of the number changes was made by Lakers guard Quinn Cook, who has given up No. 2 — which was worn by Gianna Bryant in AAU play — in favor of No. 28, honoring both Kobe Bryant and his daughter.

But there have also been calls for a broader retirement of Bryant’s number, or numbers considering he wore No. 8 for the first 10 seasons of his remarkable 20-year career before switching to No. 24 prior to the 2006-07 season.

Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell first put the idea out on social media shortly after Bryant’s death had been confirmed.

Teammate Royce O’Neal then chimed in.

The Dallas Mavericks announced Sunday night that owner Mark Cuban decreed that No. 24 would no longer be issued by the team. That jersey number was last worn by Richard Jefferson in 2014-15, but notably belonged to former franchise stars Mark Aguirre (1981-89) and Jim Jackson (1992-97). Hubert Davis (1997-2001) and Pavel Podkolzin (2004-06) also wore No. 24.

That brings up the broader question: Should the NBA look to retire one or both of Bryant’s numbers?

It’s not unprecedented for a uniform number to be universally retired by a sport. Major League Baseball did so on April 15, 1997, retiring the No. 42 worn by the late Jackie Robinson on the 50th anniversary of his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

The National Hockey League did the same with Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99 immediately upon his retirement in 1999 and Gretzky — who wore the number as a tribute to Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe — called upon the NHL to bestow the same honor upon Howe, who died in 2016.

The problem with rushing to a decision about how to honor Kobe Bryant’s legacy — more than 2 million have signed an online petition calling for the NBA to remove the silhouette the league will never admit is Jerry West and replace it with a representation of Bryant — is that decisions made immediately in the wake of a traumatic event can tend to be not well thought out.

Bryant’s death was sudden and shocking — as shocking as any NBA-related event I can recall in nearly 50 years of following the league, including the Magic Johnson announcement in 1991 — and it is in the process of dealing with a tragic event that people, with the best of intentions, can call for far-reaching measures that could set difficult precedents down the line.

Honoring Bryant’s legacy with an award — either a new one or by re-titling an existing award — could be considered, but perhaps the best tribute to Kobe’s legacy might be to do something related to how he spent his retirement, preparing the next generation of women’s basketball players and promoting the women’s game.

What specifically that might entail is something I haven’t worked out yet. I’m on my fifth day of processing the magnitude of Kobe Bryant’s death and am not in a place to be as rational as one should be when contemplating far-reaching measures.