World Peace wanted No. 60 to honor Kobe's final game

Metta World Peace has gone through enough jersey numbers to last multiple basketball careers, having donned No. 15, 23, 37, 51, 91, 93, and 96 over his 16-year run.

So what's one more change?

The 36-year-old forward is working on a non-guaranteed contract with the Los Angeles Lakers he signed in September that will take him through training camp. He was hoping to roll with a new number that would honor the final game of his now former teammate, "The Black Mamba" Kobe Bryant.

"I so wanted that No. 60," World Peace said Tuesday, according to the Orange County Register's Bill Oram. "That’s all I was talking about, if I got back to the Lakers, was changing my number to 60."

Bryant dropped 60 points on the Utah Jazz at the Staples Center on April 13 in the final outing of his legendary 20-year career.

"I was so honored to be there," said World Peace. "I wanted to surprise him. I was so honored to be there. But, whatever."

World Peace's request for No. 60 was denied because it was filed well after the league's deadline.

He'll have to settle for No. 37 instead - and World Peace will be turning 37 years old Nov. 13.

"That's pretty old," he added. "That seems young, but I don't know. Actually it's not. That (expletive) is old."