The National Basketball Association announced this afternoon that Kobe and Gianna Bryant will be honoured along with the seven other victims of the helicopter crash on all player uniforms at the upcoming 2020 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago.
The game will feature the members of Team Giannis wearing Kobe Bryant’s number 24 and the members of Team LeBron wearing Gianna’s number 2. Both teams will also wear a special jersey patch featuring nine stars in recognition of the nine victims of last weekend’s crash.
An additional special patch will be worn featuring the numbers 2 and 24 surrounded by nine stars for the other events preceding the All-Star Game itself. These include the NBA Rising Stars game and the skills competition events on NBA All-Star Saturday Night, such as the Three-Point and the Slam Dunk Contests.
Earlier this week the NBA announced the All-Star Game this year will be played in an entirely different format. Each of the first three quarters will be separate twelve-minute games with a winner determined for each with the winning team’s charity of choice receiving a donation. The final quarter eliminates the clock, totals up the previous three quarters, then adds 24 (Kobe’s number) to the higher number as a target score — the first team to then hit that total number of points wins the game.
The 2020 NBA All-Star Game will be played at the United Center in Chicago on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET.