Other historical NBA figures have changed numbers before. Charles Barkley had three different numbers over the course of his Hall of Fame career, Shaquille O’Neal had three, but those players changed digits as they jumped from team to team. Rare is the future Hall of Fame that changed numbers while working on one team, and Kobe Bryant appears (typically, for him) unique in this situation.

  With his career coming to an admitted close, Bryant and his Los Angeles Lakers are facing down a blessed dilemma of sorts. Should the Lakers retire the No. 8 he wore from 1996 to 2006, or the No. 24 he won two titles with in the decade since?

"I don’t know the answer. Obviously it’s going to be 8, 24 or it could be both," said Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak at a season-ticket holder event Sunday at Staples Center.

  Bryant has improved of late, but that isn’t the point. The young players need development time, and they need the ball, and the confluence of Kobe’s bad habits and Byron Scott’s bad coaching has made this year in purgatory all the more frustrating.

  Until Bryant’s time is done, Mitch Kupchak will have to commit his resources to other noble pursuits. Like trying to figure out how to get two different numbers onto one jersey