The Los Angeles Lakers will be paying tribute to one of their biggest-ever legends in Kobe Bryant, who tragically passed away in a helicopter crash in 2020, with a statue outside LA’s Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers will be incorporating Gigi Bryant, Kobe’s daughter, who also pass ed away with the iconic player in the tragedy. The team is hoping to unveil the statue on the eighth of August in 2024, a reference to Kobe’s iconic number 8 and 24 jerseys.
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Lakers owner Jeanie Buss had previously confirmed the team’s intention to honour one of the game’s greatest legends and most influential personalities ever with a statue. Bryant’s widow Vanessa is involved in the decision-making process for the statue, though an artist hasn’t yet been selected for the project. Many Lakers and, indeed, basketball fans, in general, were getting impatient and frustrated with the team’s delay in erecting a statue to honour Bryant’s legacy as reported by the Daily Mail.
Five Lakers legends have statues outside Crypto.com Arena. They are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Elgin Baylor, Magic Johnson and Jerry West. There are also statues of non-basketball players outside the arena, including statues of boxer Oscar De La Hoya, broadcaster Chick Hearn and ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky.
Sculptor hopes tribute to Kobe can stay up at the crash site
There has already been a statue set up at the site of the crash that depicts Bryant in his Lakers jersey with his arm around Gigi’s shoulder. The 150 lbs statue was crafted by Dan Medina. The statue is inscribed with the phrase ‘heroes come and go but legends are forever’. The work also features the names of all the victims who passed away in the crash, including Christina Mauser, Payton and Sarah Chester, John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli, and pilot Ara Zobayan.
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The statue is a smaller version of a larger piece that Medina is working on, which will be placed somewhere in downtown Los Angeles. It is thought that the larger statue will be life-size and a permanent fixture. The artist, however, hopes that the smaller tribute will also be allowed to stay up at the crash site. Medina said, “I think we did it the right way. I didn't break any laws. There was no trash left behind. I hope by showing that something we did spontaneously and the right way can lead to something further.”
