The Lakers erected a monument of Kobe Bryant on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena, paying emotional homage to one of the city’s most revered sports personalities.
The monument revealed during the occasion featured Bryant sporting the number 8 on his uniform.
However, his widow Vanessa Bryant said that there would be three sculptures, one with him wearing No. 24 and one with Gianna, his daughter who died in the same helicopter accident that killed Kobe in 2020. The others were not shown at the ceremony.
“Because fans all over the world and the City of Angels loved Kobe so much, he will have three statues in front of the arena – also known as the house that Kobe built,” Vanessa went on to say.
Vanessa said that Bryant helped design the monument.
“For the record, Kobe picked the pose you’re about to see,” she went on to say. “So if someone has a problem with that, tough (crap). “It is what it is.”
The monument has the names of Kobe’s children tattooed on his arm, his five championship trophies, and a QR code that fans may scan to see Kobe highlights. The statue’s base is triangular, a reference to Jackson and Tex Winter’s triangle offense.
The monument will be accessible for public sight at Crypto.com Arena beginning Friday morning.
Other speakers during the event were team owner Jeanie Buss, Kobe’s former player Derek Fisher, club legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and former coach Phil Jackson.
Former Laker greats Magic Johnson, Pau Gasol, and Robert Horry were in attendance, as was NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Former Lakers player and executive Jerry West was also in attendance, having played a significant part in scouting Kobe in high school and encouraging the organization to trade for him.
A 5-carat diamond Jeanie Buss remembered her father Jerry’s respect and devotion for Kobe Bryant, beginning with the decision to trade for him immediately after his pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996.
“Trading for Kobe in 1996 set this franchise and this city on a journey that was beyond our wildest dreams,” she went on to say.
Jerry Buss subsequently turned down tempting offers from other clubs to trade for Kobe, including one that offered five players.
It was told by her father “that Kobe was as rare as a flawless five-carat diamond and five one-carat diamonds would never equal the same value.”
“I constantly think of Kobe,” she continued. “I miss him and Gigi more than words could express. But now I am overjoyed because I know that in the future, fans will congregate here in the shadow of this monument opposite this building, where Kobe gave us so many memories, to express what he meant to us.”
Jackson, who led the Lakers to five titles, shared anecdotes about Bryant’s competitive temperament and rivalry with Michael Jordan.
At one point, Jackson recalls attempting to educate Kobe to transfer the ball to his teammates rather than taking over a game on his own.
“I arranged a meeting between Michael and Kobe, to give him a little impression of how to handle being in a restricted basketball system that relied on passing the ball to available teammates and wanting to go one on one with his guy in front of you,” Jackson said ESPN.
“So we had a little meeting in the cigar room off the bar downstairs and Michael and I were sitting there and Kobe walked in after his shower and the press.”He sat down and told Michael, “I can take you one on one.”Michael said, ‘Well, I believe you may. I’m 37. “You’re 22, right?”
Prior to the Kobe sculptures, Crypto.com’s Star Plaza had eleven additional monuments.
The timing of the occurrence was significant for numerology: Thursday, February 8, 2024 — 2/8/24 — is a calendar date that incorporates not only both of Bryant’s numbers, but also the No. 2 that his late daughter Gianna, who also died in the accident, wore as a young basketball star.
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