The Los Angeles Lakers are finally set to give a long-overdue honor to the late Kobe Bryant.
Russ Weakland and Alex Raskin of Daily Mail reported Wednesday that the Lakers plan to unveil a statue of Bryant outside of Crypto.com Arena in one year on Aug. 8, 2024. The date is a nod to Bryant’s two jersey numbers (No. 8 and No. 24), which were retired by the team back in 2017.
The report adds that the statue of Bryant will also incorporate daughter Gigi, who died along with him and seven others in a Jan. 2020 helicopter crash. Additionally, Bryant’s widow Vanessa is said to be involved with the plans for the statue. You can read the full Daily Mail report here.
The Lakers have already honored numerous franchise legends like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor with statues outside of their arena. Even Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant’s old teammate, got a statue from the team in 2017 (six years after O’Neal retired in 2011). Thus, the fact that Bryant, who is seen by many as the greatest Laker ever, does not have a statue yet is a source of confusion and frustration for many.
By the time the expected Bryant statue is unveiled by the Lakers in August of next year, it will have been over four-and-a-half years since Bryant’s death. But all will be forgiven if and when the Lakers get the honor right. Perhaps they can even involve the artist who made his own outstanding statue of Bryant and his daughter.
