The Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a statue of Gianna and Kobe Bryant outside of Crypto.com Arena in a private ceremony on Friday afternoon. The public will able to view the statue up close starting on Saturday at 9 a.m. PT.
During the ceremony, Lakers legendary broadcaster Stu Lantz spoke first and then Kobe’s widow Vanessa gave a speech that was said to have lasted around eight minutes.
This, of course, was not the first statue of Bryant unveiled outside the arena as the first of three was completed last February.
At that time, Vanessa revealed that there would be two more with the first being this one of Gianna and Kobe, who were tragically killed in a helicopter crash in Jan. 2020.
Here is the Gianna and Kobe Bryant statue. It will be available to view outside the arena starting at 9 a.m. tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/V6wEfAhflR
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) August 2, 2024
The first statue of Kobe depicted him holding his finger up after scoring 81 points in his No. 8 jersey. The third, which is expected to be unveiled at some point during the 2024-25 season, will have him in his No. 24 jersey.
Vanessa Bryant’s statement of Gianna and Kobe Bryant statue
After the Lakers unveiled the statue of Gianna and Kobe Bryant, Vanessa released a statement to commemorate what was a special day for everyone in the organization and family.
“We merged two iconic courtside moments of Kobe and Gigi. Gianna has her gorgeous smile on her face and Kobe is kissing the top of her head while wearing the Philadelphia Eagles beanie that Gigi gifted him for Christmas. He’s also wearing a WNBA hoodie he wore courtside to the game with Gigi. Kobe was the first NBA player to wear that orange hoodie to a big game and that was to show his support for Gigi’s dreams and for women across all sports. That was a moment he shared with Gigi that will always be a powerful representation of the movement towards equality that was always so important to our family,” Vanessa wrote.
“We were faced with the harsh reality that no matter how great Gianna was or could be, no matter how great her daddy taught her how to play, or even if she played exactly like Kobe, she would not have had the same benefits and opportunities that her dad and young men currently have because she’s a girl. That’s when the challenge to change the perception of women’s sports started in our household. Gianna would be going into her first year of college this year. We would be watching her shine on the court. Now her spirit is shining a path she has created for young girls and for women in sports. In honor of Kobe and Gigi, I ask you this: give young girls your time. Give them your support. Tell them they can do anything any man can do and tell them they can exceed that, because they can, they have and they will. Iron sharpens iron. Reassure that confidence and see how much they thrive. Sometimes, all we need is one person to believe in us, even if that one person is ourselves. Take girls to watch women play sports. Buy those tickets to the game if you can. Watch women’s games on TV with your daughters, nieces and cousins. If young girls can see professional women play, they know they have the potential to be them. They know those ambitions aren’t just dreams but will become a reality. Let’s build up the next generation of athletes. It’s what Gigi and Kobe would want us to do.”
“Kobe was the ultimate Girl Dad and Gigi was the ultimate Daddy’s girl.”
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