Kobe Bryant statue with Gianna to be unveiled on 8/2/24. But you will have to wait to see it
The second of three statues honoring late Lakers great Kobe Bryant outside Crypto.com Arena will be unveiled Friday in a private ceremony, a person with knowledge of the event but not authorized to discuss it publicly has confirmed to The Times.
The statue will pay tribute to Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, both of whom were among the nine people who died in a Jan. 26, 2020, helicopter crash in Calabasas.
It is not known when the statue will be able to be viewed by the public.
The date of the unveiling — 8/2/24 — is significant because it involves the No. 8 and No. 24 jersey numbers Bryant wore with the Lakers as well as the No. 2 jersey number Gianna wore as a player for Bryant’s Mamba Academy.
The statue of Kobe Bryant unveiled by the Lakers shows a player who isn’t scoring, but the man who became more inclusive and unselfish during his career.
The first Bryant statue at Crypto.com Arena was unveiled on a similarly significant date in February (2/8/24). The 19-foot, 4,000-pound bronze memorial depicts Bryant in his No. 8 jersey. He is pointing toward the sky in a re-creation of an image from his 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors in 2006.
“For the record,†his wife Vanessa Bryant said at the unveiling ceremony, “Kobe picked the pose you’re about to see, so if anyone has any issues with it, tough s—.â€
An inscription under the statue features the box score from that game. The statue initially included misspellings of two players’ names along with the word “decision.†Those typos have since been corrected.
The third planned statue, which will be unveiled at a later date, will show Bryant in his No. 24 jersey, which he wore in the final 10 years of his 20-year career with the Lakers.
SoCal murals honor Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, who died four years ago in a helicopter crash that also killed his daughter Gianna and seven others.
Times staff writer Dan Woike contributed to this report.
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