When Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant is enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, he'll be honored in the museum with more than the usual plaque.
Bryant will receive a stand-alone exhibit in the Hall, designed, in part, by his wife, Vanessa Bryant.
According to Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times, Kobe will become the first inductee since Michael Jordan in 2009 to receive a full exhibit in the Hall upon induction. Jordan's exhibit ran for five years.
The 600 square-foot exhibit will be titled, “Kobe: A Basketball Life.” Its run is currently open-ended, per Greif.
Kobe getting stand-alone Hall exhibit@AndrewGreif @latimes pic.twitter.com/3YZqRycUtw
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) May 14, 2021
Jordan and Vanessa will posthumously present the Lakers icon into the Hall of Fame at this weekend's emotional ceremony. Vanessa will deliver remarks on her husband, with Jordan — a mentor and dear friend of Bryant's — will be on stage, too.
“It’s like you’re immersing yourself in Kobe’s life, but there is this feeling of the future about Kobe,” the hall's president and chief executive John Doleva told Grief. “It makes you contemplate what could have been.”
You can see a first-look inside “Kobe: A Basketball Life” here:
This "Kobe: Basketball Life" exhibit is only the second time in @Hoophall history that a stand-alone space has been created for an enshrined member. The previous Hall of Famer was Michael Jordan in 2009. (via @latimes)
(📸: @DNguyen41) pic.twitter.com/6c8WHujUmZ
— ESPN Los Angeles (@ESPNLosAngeles) May 14, 2021
The immersive space will include memorabilia that capture the breadth of Bryant's accomplishment, on- and off-the-hardwood: portions of the Lower Merion High court he starred on, replicas of the five championship rings he won in Los Angeles, his 81-point game kicks, and his Oscar-winning animated short film, “Dear Basketball,” will be among the items on display.
“You’re now able to walk up to a 55-inch monitor kiosk and really do a deep, deep dive on Kobe with pictures and video from all aspects of his career and ‘Mamba’ and whatever else,” said Doleva. “It really is much more obviously immersive, much more engaging. And I think we have an obligation also to educate, so while people know a lot about Kobe, I think they can learn a lot about other players that went before Kobe.”
Kobe will be inducted into the Hall at 2:30 p.m. PT in a televised ceremony set to air on ESPN.
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