Utes, Trojans Honor Kobe Bryant By Wearing No. 8, 24 Warm-Up Shirts

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – It’s the first game that the Utah Utes and the USC Trojans will play since the passing of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.

Bryant and 8 others including his 13-year-old daughter were tragically killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday morning in Southern California.

The Utes are wearing warm-up shirts with either No. 8 or No. 24 with the last name Bryant on the back of their shirts.

For Kobe. 💜💛#MambaForever pic.twitter.com/BGoJMnR3Q7

— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) January 31, 2020

USC is doing something similar but on the front of their shirts, it says “Fight On Forever.”

To those attending tonight’s game… pic.twitter.com/jHyWD0HF2b

— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) January 30, 2020

Both teams also wrote messages on their shoes in honor of Kobe and Gianna.

Honoring Kobe and Gigi. pic.twitter.com/aQlbTdvMry

— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) January 31, 2020

Also, USC created two jersey’s, one with No. 24 and one with the No. 2 that were hanging over two spots on their courtside seats with flowers on the seat. No. 24 represents Kobe’s number and No. 2 was Gianna’s number.

Earlier this week at his weekly press conference, Utah Utes head coach Larry Krystkowiak brought a Kobe Bryant Lakers jersey on a hanger and hung it on the podium while he was addressing the media.

Before the game between Utah and USC, they held a moment of silence lasting 24.8 seconds.