The Los Angeles Lakers has announced it would be paying tribute to deceased Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant with a monument in front of the Crypto.com Arena, the place where he played nearly all of his career.
The NBA reported that the Lakers and Kobe's widow, Vanessa Bryant, will be unveiling a bronze statue of Bryant on February 8, 2024, prior to the team's game against the Denver Nuggets.
The announcement was made on August 24, a date which basketball fans reckoned as "Kobe Day," based on Bryant's two jersey numbers - 8 and 24.
"As you know, Kobe played his entire 20-year NBA career as a Los Angeles Laker," Vanessa Bryant stated in a video posted at 08:24, local time (15:24 UTC). "On behalf of the Lakers, my daughters, and me, I am so honored that, right in the center of Los Angeles, in front of the place known as the house that Kobe built, we are going to unveil his statue so that his legacy can be celebrated forever."
The date of the unveiling - 2/8/24 - is also symbolic as Bryant's daughter Gianna, who perished alongside him and seven others in a helicopter crash in 2020, wore jersey number 2 throughout her time as an aspiring basketball player.
Further updates would be announced in due course, the team added.
Kobe’s legacy immortalized.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) August 24, 2023
2•8•24 pic.twitter.com/WHQBXZJ2gD
Immortalizing the Black Mamba Legacy
The Lakers said Bryant participated in the initial planning of the anticipated statue to come at Star Plaza as early as his retirement from the NBA.
Bryant will be the seventh Laker to be commemorated with a statue, joining Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, and Chick Hearn. The statue was created by renowned sculptor Julie Rotblatt Amrany of the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt Amrany.
Bryant was an 18-time NBA All-Star and retired as the first player in NBA history to play at least 20 seasons with a single franchise, earning two Finals MVP titles, guiding the Lakers to five NBA titles, and two Olympic gold medals.
He retired from the NBA alongside his jersey numbers 8 and 24 in 2017.
An earlier monument dedicated to Kobe and Gianna Bryant was erected on the crash site in 2022.
