LAS VEGAS — The Los Angeles Lakers recently acquired a high-profile player, but many longtime fans have been arriving here for N.B.A. Summer League paying homage to the past. They wear jerseys bearing the Nos. 8 and 24, which belonged to Kobe Bryant during his long and productive career and now hang from the rafters in Staples Center.
“He gave his heart for the love of the game,” said Nathan Andrews, 31, who works for the water department in Needles, Calif.
Andrews was wearing a gold No. 24 jersey and sounded downright wistful as he reminisced about Bryant’s former greatness.