The NBA has chosen to honor Kobe Bryant, GiGi Bryant, and the seven others who passed away in the helicopter crash by placing memorial patches on each of the All Star Game jerseys.
As shown in the tweets embedded below, the black patch on the right shoulder features nine stars in a circle, as a tribute to Kobe & GiGi, as well as John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Christina Mauser, Payton Chester, Sarah Chester and Ara Zobayan. Each All Star jersey will also have a black stripe on the left shoulder, as a nod to former NBA commissioner David Stern, who passed away in January.
In addition to the All Star jerseys, the NBA has also revealed that the leagues rookie and sophomores competing in the NBA Rising Stars game, will all wear jersey patches featuring the Nos. 2 and 24 in the center surrounded by nine stars. The same patch will be worn by the All-Star Saturday Night participants competing in the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Slam Dunk on Saturday.
As a further nod to Kobe and GiGi, every player on Team Giannis will wear No. 24, while Team LeBron dons the No. 2. The league has also tweaked the overall format of the All-Star game as a tribute to the late, great Laker legend. .
