His nickname is the "Black Mamba," but Kobe Bryant is being recognized by the Atlanta Zoo when the Los Angeles Lakers travel there for their match-up with the Hawks and Kobe's final regular season game in Philips Arena on Friday night.

Bryant announced earlier that he will retire from professional basketball at the end of this season, and in order to give respect where it is due, the Atlanta Zoo is naming an actual black mamba after the Black Mamba.

This game is the third of an eight-game road trip for the Lakers, so can one of the remaining five teams in this stretch of the schedule trump this? Can Detroit, Toronto, Minnesota, San Antonio, and Houston top this? The bar has been set. We'll see.

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