Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant, the 18-time All-Star who won five NBA championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career all with the Lakers, inspired a generation of basketball players worldwide unquenchable competitive fire and extraordinary skills in the sport. He earned Los Angeles’ respect during his two decades as “Black Mamba” of the beloved Lakers, and basketball fans from everywhere, including his native Philadelphia and childhood home, Italy, admired him.

What you may not know is that before the start of Kobe’s last game, Jeanne Booth, the Los Angeles Lakers’ executive vice president, presented memorial rings to Kobe and his wife Vanessa. Each ring are inserted with five big diamonds and twenty small diamonds, respectively symbolizing the five championships Kobe helped the Lakers win and his 20 years of playing for the same team Lakers.