Los Angeles Lakers

It's been 10 years to the day since Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points on the Toronto Raptors -- and the Lakers say they will honor the historic moment at Friday night's Lakers game.

A rep for the team tells TMZ Sports ... there will be video tributes on the big screens to the Mamba before and during the game honoring that crazy night on January 22, 2006 ... back when KB was just 27 years old.

#GloryDays

They hooked up Kobe back in May ... and Sunday night, Kobe returned the favor -- inviting the US Women's soccer team as his VIP guests to the Lakers game ... and they even got to shoot around on the court with Kobe's daughters.

Everyone from Alex Morgan and Hope Solo to Carli Lloyd and Sydney Leroux hit up Staples Center to watch the Lakers take on the Rockets ... as Kobe and Vanessa Bryant's special guests.

As you may know ... Kobe and his family are HUGE soccer fans -- and got a cool meet and greet with the team before the World Cup back in May. We're told he's wanted to do something cool for them ever since.

Unfortunately for Kobe, the Lakers lost and he only scored 5 points -- but he invited the women to hoop around on the court before the game ... and it appeared everyone had a blast.

After the game, the USWNT tweeted -- "#USWNT meets 5x @NBA champ @kobebryant. Thanks for having us, @Lakers. Stellar organization, we had a great time."

Floyd Mayweather has the belt, but DJ Khaled's got Snapchat on lock -- question is ... which one's a bigger a draw at Staples Center? We got the answer Tuesday night.

We got Floyd and Khaled as they walked into the Lakers-Warriors game, and the video's interesting. Of course, Mayweather's the champ ... tons of fans worldwide, but fact is social media trumps all.

It started with our video outside, and continued inside, where Khaled was king all night with fans swarming him everywhere. Let's face it -- everyone wants to get the key!

It's cool though -- Khaled and Floyd eventually kicked it, and yes ... Khaled did give him a key.

Kobe Bryant has a squad to play for when his Lakers days are officially done .... 'cause Rick Fox just invited the Mamba to join Echo Fox ... his League of Legends team.

If you don't know what League of Legends is you probably have a girlfriend ... we kid ... it's the biggest competitive video gaming sensation in the world ... with competitions paying millions to winners.

Rick Fox is a brand new team owner in the North America League of Legends Championship series, and when we got him at LAX he extended a personal invitation to Kobe to join up.

Sylvester Stallone is learning a valuable lesson about showbiz -- courtesy of his 3 daughters -- which is ... you gotta know how to shoot a selfie, dad!

69-year-old Sly took Sistine Rose, Sophia Rose and Scarlet Rose to Staples Center Thursday night for a Lakers game. Instead of watching the game, Rocky used his famous mitts to snap a few shots with the girls -- and then they took their own.

They weren't missing anything on the court -- Lakers lost by 20.

DON'T GIVE UP ON THE LAKERS -- 'cause even though they suck right now, there's a bright future ahead ... so says assistant general manager Jesse Buss.

Buss -- who's also the director of scouting for the Lake Show -- was leaving LAX in a cab (rich people gotta be economical too) when we asked if he had a message for panicking Lakers fans.

"I know it's tough right now, but I think we have a lot to look forward to."

Buss warns the fans that stars like D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle are young -- so be patient -- but insists it will get better down the road.

The Lakers may have lost to the Raptors Monday night -- but Metta World Peace didn't seem too bothered ... 'cause he got to party with Justin Bieber after the game!

Metta and the Lake Show were in Toronto for the game -- and lost 102-93 -- but afterward, Peace found time to kick it with the Biebs ... though it's unclear where they were.

Kobe didn't appear to join along -- but he got love in Canada too ... getting custom Black Mamba shoes and a hat from the Raptors as a token of the their appreciation.

Call him old school ... but Shaquille O'Neal says when it comes to retiring Kobe Bryant's jersey, there's only one option ... his ORIGINAL number ... the ocho.

The debate has been raised in the Lakers front office -- since Kobe dominated in both #8 and #24 ... and team officials are still undecided about which number to hang in the rafters at Staples.

But Shaq says there's no decision -- ya gotta go with the original number. Then again, Shaq's probably biased -- since he won 3 rings with Kobe in his #8 days ... and never played with him as #24.

There's more to the clip ... Shaq also says he'd be down to have Kobe on "Inside the NBA" after the season.

Kobe did it. Shaq did it. Even Metta did it ... and now Jordan Clarkson says he may be the next Lakers player to drop a RAP ALBUM -- but there's a huuuuge catch.

Clarkson hit an L.A. club the other night to celebrate Julius Randle's birthday -- and on the way out, he told us he's kicking around the idea ... but ONLY after he wins an NBA title.

Good news for Clarkson -- he may have some time to work on the lyrics.

BTW, here's a video of Kobe rapping to jog your memory. Good times ...

Kobe Bryant is leaving the legacy of Philly basketball in good (tiny) hands ... 'cause after his final hometown game he took time to meet with the 2nd biggest hoops name in the city ... Mo'ne Davis.

Mo'ne -- who says her dream is to play in the WNBA -- chopped it up with the Mamba post game, and from the looks of the pic ... was super excited to meet with the old fella.

Oh and BTW ... check out the jersey she's holding ... seems pretty obvious which number she supports in the whole #24 vs #8 debate.

Check out the future below ... at Kobe's tournament no less.

The Kobe Bryant jersey debate has now reached the Lakers front office -- with a team rep telling us they plan on having official meetings to decide which number to retire ... #8 or #24???

A spokesperson for the team tells TMZ Sports, "We have had a couple very casual and preliminary conversations internally about this over the past few years."

"But now that Kobe has officially announced a retirement date, I anticipate we will discuss this more formally in the coming weeks and months."

Of course, the issue is that Bryant dominated in both numbers ... winning 3 NBA championships in #8 (2000, 2001, 2002) and 2 in #24 (2009, 2010).

One former Lakers star is already weighing in -- with Rick Fox saying the team should just retire 'em BOTH!!

#8 or #24 ... that's the issue the Lakers will face when it comes time to retire Kobe Bryant's jersey -- but Rick Fox says he has a better solution ... RETIRE 'EM BOTH!!!

The issue is that Bryant dominated in both numbers ... winning 3 NBA championships in #8 (2000, 2001, 2002) and 2 in #24 (2009, 2010).

It's a completely different situation from Michael Jordan ... who only rocked the #45 for 22 games before switching back to #23.

So, what should the Lakers do??

Fox says it's time for the team to break tradition and let Kobe become the first player with TWO numbers in the rafters.

What feud?

Shaquille O'Neal says he loves Kobe Bryant like a brother ... despite their rocky "Tell Me How My Ass Tastes" past ... and to prove it, he offered Mamba some advice on his upcoming retirement.

"Its time for u to take it all in," Shaq tweeted to his former teammate ... "Sit back, relax & enjoy all that u have built. Love u lil bro."

The two essentially buried the hatchet back in August ... when they appeared on a podcast together and expressed regret over the way their feud played out in the media back in the day.

Of course, the biggest shot fired was Shaq's freestyle attack on Kobe in a NYC club back in 2008 ... but it seems they're both over it now.

This will be Kobe Bryant's final season in the NBA ... he just made it official by penning a love letter to basketball.

Kobe says the 2015-16 season will be his last in the Lakers purple and gold -- and any other uniform. In the letter, posted on The Players' Tribune, Kobe writes ... "Dear Basketball, From the moment I started rolling my dad's tube sock and shooting imaginary game-winning shots ... I fell in love with you."

He also said, "This season is all I have left to give. My heart can take the pounding, my mind can handle the grind, but my body knows it's time to say goodbye. And that's OK. I'm ready to let you go."

The letter's pretty extraordinary, and kind of emotional.

37-year-old Kobe closed with -- "I'll always be that kid with the rolled up socks. Garbage can in the corner, :05 on the clock, ball in my hands. 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1. Love you always, Kobe."

It doesn't matter that they're 17 POINT UNDERDOGS, the Lakers will shock the best team in the NBA tonight and BEAT THE WARRIORS ... for real ... so says Aries Spears.

"The sun shines on a dog's ass baby ... and the Lakers got their booty in the air."

The former "Mad TV" star says it's just a matter of time before Golden State starts racking up the Ls ... and says any comparison to the legendary '96 Chicago Bulls team is just plain ridiculous.

The 3 American heroes who bravely teamed up to BEAT DOWN a gun-toting terrorist on a Paris-bound train were honored by the Lakers Sunday night ... with Kobe Bryant personally giving all 3 guys their props.

All 3 heroes got the VIP treatment at Staples Center -- including Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler and Spencer Stone ... who made the trip despite recovering from stab wounds suffered in a recent bar attack.

As we previously reported, Sadler was wearing a Lakers shirt when he and his friends tackled and subdued the gunman during the August incident.

The team took notice and wanted to thank the men -- giving them VIP seats, personalized jerseys and private meetings with players and team officials, including Jeanie Buss.

BTW, the Lakers won yesterday -- so, INVITE 'EM BACK!!!!