Indeed, the tributes to Kobe Bryant continue rolling all week. With no end in sight – and there shouldn’t be – Joel Embiid really one-upped everyone else on Tuesday night.
First, Embiid was approved to wear the no. 24 prior to the game by the league. Second, Embiid finished Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors with exactly 24 points.
Still, that’s not the best of it. Look at how Embiid went about scoring his final bucket of the evening in the fourth quarter.
Joel Embiid hits his 24th point of the game with a Kobe fade-away while wearing No. 24
You can’t make this stuff up man🙏pic.twitter.com/PnWJbdLhq1
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 29, 2020
Embiid hit a Bryant-style fadeaway to score his 24th point of the night. Remember, this was Embiid’s first game in three weeks due to a hand injury. Furthermore, it’s Bryant who Embiid credits with getting him to turn his focus to basketball while growing up as a youngster in Africa.
With that fadeaway. pic.twitter.com/Nb8ltwX4mi
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 29, 2020
Undeniably, in a week of great tributes; this was one of the more special moments that has taken place yet. It was something that couldn’t have been planned, and it took superior athletic ability to pull it off just right.
It’s not known of course, but Bryant probably would have smiled to know that Embiid put the no. 24 on his back in returning from injury, and made a play like that to help his team seal off a 115-104 victory.
It seems like the 76ers played with an added sense of pride, claiming Bryant as one of their own. Bryant grew up in Philadelphia, attending Lower Merion High School before turning pro.
