The Los Angeles Lakers officially made a trade on Thursday. The team sent Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Patrick Beverley, who the team previously acquired in the trade that sent Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves. It’s an interesting move for the Lakers, as the team brings a veteran into their backcourt who should provide some defensive bite and three-point shooting, both of which they could really use on the heels of a season in which they missed out on the play-in tournament.
The move got announced by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on Wednesday night in a tweet sent just before midnight, but it wasn’t until the following day when the Lakers sent the tweet announcing that Beverley is headed to L.A.
OFFICIAL: Mr. 94 Feet is a Laker pic.twitter.com/5czUqBy6YO
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) August 25, 2022
It’s hardly unusual for Woj to get something that becomes official a day later, but apparently, the amount of time between the report hitting the Twitterverse and the move becoming official had some significance. According to Marc Spears of Andscape, the reason that the Lakers did not consummate the deal on Wednesday was in recognition of Kobe Bryant Day.
Was told the @Lakers waited until today to consummate the trade with the Jazz out of respect to Kobe Bryant Day yesterday. Kobe Bryant Day is celebrated on August 24, chosen for jerseys 8 and 24, in Los Angeles and Orange County to commemorate the life of the Lakers icon.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 25, 2022
As Spears noted, the day recognizes the late Lakers superstar, whose numbers during his NBA career were 8 and 24.