[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] please welcome liqueurs president of basketball operations Irvin Magic Johnson what's up late your nation we're here to celebrate the greatest hooves ever war the purple and gold for 20 years he thrilled us he made us scratch our head what did we just see what did we just witness and he gave us five NBA championship let me see Kobe you gave us three and number eight and two and 24 we are so blessed to have had this man wear the purple and gold for 20
years and he was all about excellence he was driven his will to win was very very high and tonight we're able to put not just one of his jersey but both of his jerseys up high I hope that you recorded every game I hope that you're doing the same thing tonight because it will never ever be another Kobe Bryant who can remember when he scored 81 points and again and last but not least there would never be an athlete in his last performance to top this man's performance sixty points so before I turn the mic
over to our owner Jeanie buss is two things I want to leave you with Kobe Jerry West called me the day that you worked out and he said Earvin I just witnessed the greatest workout I've ever seen in my entire life and Jerry you were absolutely right this man has turned out to be the greatest we've ever seen and the next thing Kobe is this brother we need you right now when I look into this audience there's our race of people come together cheers you on for twenty years and this country needs to come together
and you were able to bring us all together as a city in Los Angeles for 20 so we thank you for that miss TV bus come on out please and Geney before you speak we have got to bring his closest friend my partner in crime out here to join us Rob pálinka you gotta come on out representing Kobe for all those years you gotta come on out we don't let genies do her thing right now [Applause] Koby we knew this day was gonna come and here we are I also know you well enough that the
jerseys hanging up there was not your motivation but this is our tradition this is our ceremony but really what we're celebrating tonight is the journey that you took us on for those 20 years we are retiring both your numbers because if you separated each of the accomplishments under those numbers each of those players would qualify for the Hall of Fame I have the honor of representing all Laker fans here tonight and overwhelmingly they asked me to express their gratitude and their appreciation for all that you've done I am quoting some of them here Thank You
Kobe for your incredible work ethic never giving up and somehow figuring out how to impose your will on a game and change the single-handedly changing the outcome Thank You Kobe you taught us what happens when you outwork fear with a relentless Mamba mentality teaching us that failure is a non-existent concept [Applause] Thank You Kobe for not only making the players on your team better but you forced your opponent to raise their game as well Thank You Kobe for inspiring a generation of fans to fall in love with the game Thank You Kobe for playing through
enormous pain and sometimes putting the team on your back to carry us to the finish line and Kobe I thank you for staying loyal to the purple and gold and and remaining a Laker for life when it might have been easier for you to leave we asked you for your hustle and you gave us your heart which was so much more you showed us how to win by sheer well hard work and perseverance you have forever major mark on this franchise your legacy is much greater than basketball no one will ever wear eight or 24
again for the Lakers because they are being tired the time has come Lakers fans please direct your attention up to the southeast corner of the arena were number eight and number 24 will hang forever as we honor one of our Lakers rates Kobe Bryant [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] thank you I want to say you know it's thank you so much for tonight but you know it's not it's not about my jerseys that are hanging up there for me you know it's about the jerseys that
were hanging up there before and without them I couldn't be here today they inspired me to play the game by the high level magic cab Shack pushing me every day Baelor Chamberlain Goodrich Wes worthy goes on and on and secondly it's about this class organization and Jerry Buss your father believing in a skinny old kid from Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia and it's also about the next generation it's about it's currently a roster that we have here it's about it's about embodying the spirit that exists in those jerseys up there and carrying this organization
forward so that the next 20 years are better than the past 20 years and that's what it's about and then it's also about the fans fans the media I don't think you guys understand how present you guys were with me you know you guys were there with me at 5:30 in the morning when I was running the track and I was midway through my workout and I didn't know if I could make it through and I thought about the expectations you got have you guys have for me you have for our team and it pushed
me through it got me through those eight hundreds and for hundreds and one hundreds at 5:30 in the morning so I thank you it's about family it's about my wife Vanessa you know you guys don't know this but the last game my last game that we had here against Utah Jazz I was really tired I got home and I was like you know what I don't know if I can do this thing I got one more game left but I don't have any legs and she said I want to show you something I got a
gift for you for your last game and she proceeded to show me a row of retired jerseys from Baylor for magic from Shack from cab all the personal messages science' me including for Michael Jordan including from the great Bill Russell included from the great Larry Bird and when I saw that I knew then that I had to turn it up I had to turn it off so thank you baby for being an inspiration to me and and lastly our daughters Natalia Gianna and Bianca you know I I hope that tonight is not you know you
guys know that you know if you do the work you work hard enough dreams come true you know that we all know that but hopefully what you get from tonight is the understanding that those times where you get up early and you work hard those times where you stay up late and you work hard those times where you don't feel like working you're too tired you don't want to push yourself but you do it anyway that is actually the dream that's the dream it's not the destination it's the journey and if you guys if you
guys can understand that then what you'll see happen is that you won't accomplish your dreams your dreams won't come true something greater will and if you guys can understand that and I'm doing my job as a father thank you guys so much I love you [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music]
