About midway through the 2023-24 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers honored the late Kobe Bryant with a statue outside of the Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as the Staples Center. While public reaction to the statue was mixed at best, Bryant's widow Vanessa and the Lakers ensured fans that there would be more to come to memorialize one of the game's greatest all time players.
Now, it seems those plans have come to fruition, as a new statue featuring Bryant, along with his daughter Gianna, who also tragically passed away alongside him in a 2020 helicopter accident, will be unveiled “in a private tented ceremony Friday outside of Crypto.com Arena,” reported Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
The first statue was unveiled on February 8 (2/8/24), while the second is being unveiled on August 2 (8/2/24), both of which would seem to reference the number eight and number 24 jerseys that Bryant wore during his iconic career with the Lakers.
McMenamin also reported that there is a third statue in the works that is expected to be unveiled at some point next season.
An iconic legacy
Of course, the reason Kobe Bryant was famous in the first place was his incredible ability to do seemingly impossible things on the basketball court. Over the course of his career with the Lakers, Bryant won five championships, including two as the clear best player on his team in 2009 and 2010, and also won a league MVP award. Known for his relentless work ethic and determination, Bryant quickly became a fan favorite not just in Los Angeles but around the world.
Following his playing career, which ended in 2016, Bryant had become a major advocate for the expansion and increased public interest in women's basketball, which is being continued today with a rapid surge in popularity of the WNBA. Gianna Bryant had also become a torchbearer of the movement in her young life, playing on Bryant's elite travel team and aspiring to one day be in the WNBA as well.
Following their tragic passing, along with everyone else onboard the helicopter that day, a public outpouring of grief ensued, and the Lakers have since taken many steps to ensure that arguably their franchise's most iconic player will be properly memorialized, including a service at the arena the following month as well as the statues currently being unveiled.
At this point, it's unclear when the public will have their first glimpse of the new statue to be privately unveiled on Friday.
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