RJ Barrett Retires 'Maple Mamba' Nickname in Honor of Kobe Bryant

The gestures to honor Kobe Bryant continue to pour in from all over the NBA.

The latest one comes from a teenager, but holds just as much weight as any other tribute to the late Lakers star. New York Knicks rookie RJ Barrett is only 19 years old, but he adopted the moniker of "Maple Mamba," due to his Canadian roots. Well, following Sunday's tragedy, the young Knicks rookie has decided to retire that nickname.

RJ Barrett told reporters in Charlotte tonight that he would like to retire his “Maple Mamba” nickname out of respect to Kobe Bryant.
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) January 28, 2020

Fans may not have known about this nickname in the first place, but Barrett is making a noble move to retire his Kobe-related epithet. For many players there is only one "Mamba" and that is Bryant.

While the "Maple Mamba" nickname was given to Barrett during his time in college at Duke, but the rookie has opted against continuing to use it in order to pay respect to Kobe.

RJ Barrett was nicknamed Maple Mamba while at Duke but has asked not to use it anymore out of respect for Kobe.
— Steve Popper (@StevePopper) January 28, 2020

Barrett's gesture is one of many that have come from NBA players, including the likes of Spencer Dinwiddie and Terrence Ross opting to change their jersey numbers.