The Los Angeles Lakers faithful have been waiting years for a statue of late legend Kobe Bryant to be unveiled in the plaza outside of Crypto.com Arena. Standing next to the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and more, Bryant has impacted the Lakers franchise in a way that perhaps no other single person has.
The long wait finally came to an end on Thursday, when the Lakers unveiled a statue of Bryant in a televised ceremony. Spectrum SportsNet aired the event as part of a full day of Bryant programming. The Lakers chose Thursday, Feb. 8, due to the significance of Gianna Bryant’s No. 2 jersey alongside Bryant’s No. 8 and No. 24 uniforms.
Bryant’s statue is now forever immortalized at the downtown L.A. plaza outside Crypto.com Arena, featuring his famous point to the sky following his 81-point performance in 2006, via the Lakers:
For Kobe. For the die-hard Laker fans. For our family.
Mamba forever. pic.twitter.com/uExf0oEWgY
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 9, 2024
The 81-point game pose is synonymous with the early phase of Bryant’s career, an all-around unstoppable force with a relentless mentality and a hunger to break every record the game has put in front of him.
That’s not all though, as Vanessa Bryant used part of her pre-unveiling speech to announce that the 81-point game statue is the first of three that will be built outside Crypto.com Arena. The other two will feature one wearing jersey No. 24 and one alongside Gianna Bryant:
Vanessa Bryant announces that Kobe Bryant will have three statues outside of https://t.co/JZKgZ5CCZs Arena pic.twitter.com/kBXAjLMin5
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 9, 2024
The dates and locations of the other two statues are still to be determined, but like the No. 8 statue details perhaps the greatest moment of that era of his career, the No. 24 and the statue with Gianna is likely to do the same.
No. 24 saw Bryant go from a relentless killer on the court to a true champion and ambassador of the game. His statue with Gianna will detail the post-playing phase of his career, when he became a Hall of Fame parent to his daughters.
Derek Fisher explains what Kobe Bryant’s speech might have sounded like
Bryant’s tragic passing in 2020 adds another layer of meaning and importance to this statue unveiling, as his teammates and fans will be there to celebrate him without him being in attendance. But former teammate Derek Fisher gave some insight into what a speech from Bryant might have sounded like if he was around to deliver it.
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