The Los Angeles Lakers previously announced that three Kobe Bryant statues will live outside of Crypt.com Arena. Earlier this year, Vanessa Bryant joined the team for a ceremony to unveil the first one, and on Friday, the Lakers held a private ceremony for the second statue.
There was some significance to this one, as it was a statue of Bryant and his eldest daughter, Gianna, who passed away in the helicopter crash that took Kobe’s life back in 2020. The date of the ceremony was not a coincidence, either, as the Lakers did this on 8/2/24 — Kobe wore 8 and 24 during his NBA career, while Gianna wore 2 during her promising basketball career at Mamba Academy.
The Kobe & Gigi statue has officially been unveiled
BEAUTIFULLY done. pic.twitter.com/0vt1LYXhEM
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) August 2, 2024
The team hasn’t announced when this one will be open for public consumption, and unclear when the Lakers are going to reveal the third statue — which, according to Vanessa, will depict him wearing the No. 24. Dave McMenamin of ESPN has reported that we’ll see it sometime during the 2024-25 campaign.
As for the first one, it’s currently outside of Crypto.com Arena, and depicts Bryant in his No. 8 jersey with one finger in the air.
“For the record,” Vanessa said when the initial one got unveiled, “Kobe picked the pose you’re about to see, so if anyone has any issues with it, tough sh*t.”