Bryant No. 24 Jerseys Jumping

The "retiring" of Kobe Bryant's No. 8 Los Angeles Lakers jersey has sparked sales in his next edition: No. 24. Overall, Bryant jerseys have been on a steady climb since late summer, and as the season began Oct. 31, No. 24 Bryant jerseys have hopped 22% from the previous week. The 100 that have sold since Halloween are fetching an average of $33 a piece, compared to just $19 for sluggish selling No. 8 jerseys.

So what's behind this jersey change? Well, apparently Kobe used to wear No. 24 in during his high school playing days, but in 1996, while still playing HS ball, he switched to No. 33, the same number as his father, Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant wore in high school. With the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's No. 33 already retired, it ruled out that jersey number for Bryant as he joined the Lakers.

Reportedly, Bryant decided on No. 8 for a couple of reasons. First, it was the number he wore when he was a kid playing in Italy, and second (get your CPA for this one), he wore No. 143 at Adidas' ABCD Camp, and when you add up the numbers (1+4+3), you get 8.