On Thursday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a statue of their late franchise icon, Kobe Bryant, who won five championships with the team during his legendary career. Bryant tragically passed away along with his daughter Gianna in a 2020 helicopter accident, but the statue on Thursday ensured that his Lakers legacy will remain immortalized.

Prior to the unveiling of the statue, which depicted Bryant in his number eight jersey, with one finger pointed to the sky (perhaps also commemorating his legendary 81 point game against the Toronto Raptors in 2006), his widow Vanessa Bryant spoke to the fans in front of Crypto.com arena and took the time to address potential critics of the statue, noting that Bryant had picked the pose himself, and saying “tough s***” to those who have an issue with it.

It took less than 24 hours for Nike, the sports clothing corporation with which Bryant did business throughout his life and career, to cash in on the viral moment, as they gifted Vanessa Bryant a hoodie reading the phrase, with the t in “tough” stylized to resemble Bryant's signature brand logo (via Vanessa Bryant's Instagram page).

Now, Lakers fans want in on the action.

Both Vanessa and Kobe Bryant displayed great business instincts throughout Kobe's NBA career, never missing an opportunity to create public buzz off of viral moments and nicknames, including Bryant's self-given “Black Mamba” nickname.

According to Vanessa, two more statues of her late husband will be displayed in front of the Crypto.com Arena in the near future.