Kobe Bryant played all 20 of his NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers until his retirement in 2016; Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash in 2020; NBA legend to have three statues unveiled in his memory
Friday 9 February 2024 10:42, UK
The Los Angeles Lakers paid tribute to Kobe Bryant by revealing a new statue of the NBA legend outside their home arena on Thursday.
The five-time NBA champion, who played all 20 seasons of his career with the Lakers, died with his daughter Gianna and seven other people in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020.
The 19-foot bronze statue represents him his index finger up, just like after his 81 points game against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006, with Lakers legends gathered for the unveiling of the landmark outside the Crypto.com Arena.
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and former head coach Phil Jackson spoke at the ceremony, along with Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss, former Laker Derek Fisher and Bryant’s widow Vanessa.
“As I see today’s current generation of star players follow in Kobe’s footsteps with huge scoring games, I know he would take pride in knowing that he is still pouring inspiration into the game that was so special to him,” Vanessa Bryant said.
She added: “I leave you with one of my husband’s amazing quotes. ‘Leave the game better than you found it and when it comes time for you to leave, leave a legend’. And that he did.”
The first Bryant statue was revealed from behind a gold curtain with confetti flying. It depicts Bryant in a white Lakers uniform with the No 8. The base of the statue is a triangle in honour of the triangle offense Bryant perfected under Jackson and assistant coach Tex Winter.
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Another of the statues will depict Bryant wearing his No 24 jersey, while the third will be of Bryant and his daughter Gianna. The date of the ceremony, February 8 2024, was significant because the No 2 was the jersey number of his daughter and her father wore both No 8 and No 24 during his Hall of Fame career.
Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O’Neal, Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Jerry West and announcer Chick Hearn also have been immortalised with statues representing the Lakers at the downtown Los Angeles venue, formerly known as the Staples Center.