Apparent spelling errors on Lakers’ Kobe Bryant statue go viral

Apr 13, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant (24) reacts against the Utah Jazz in the first quarter at Staples Center. Bryant concludes his 20-year NBA career tonight. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The proofreaders apparently missed a few on the new Kobe Bryant statue.

Basketball journalist Andre Voigt posted several photos to social media this week showing that there are multiple spelling mistakes on the Los Angeles Lakers’ newly-unveiled statue of Kobe Bryant outside of Crypto.com Arena.

The statue is a pose of Bryant at the end of his iconic 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors in 2006. As such, the base of the statue features an engraving of the box score for that game. Unfortunately though, a closer glance at the engraving reveals at least three misspellings.

Jose Calderon, who was a member of the Raptors at the time, has his name incorrectly spelled as “Calderson.” Additionally, the name of then-Lakers guard Von Wafer is spelled as “Vom Wafer,” and then-Raptors big man Aaron Williams is listed as a “DNP- Coach’s Decicion.”

Take a look for yourself below.

Hm … Kobes Statue mit drei Fehlern? CalderSon, VoM Wafer, DeciCion? What? 😨 pic.twitter.com/5ea6zWuXJ7

— André „Dré“ Voigt (@drevoigt) March 10, 2024

Granted, the errors are not too obvious unless you take a close look at the finer print. But for a statue of that magnitude (and one that took over four years after Bryant’s death and nearly eight years after his last NBA game to be unveiled), you would assume it to have been meticulously scrutinized for any such errors long before it came into the public eye.

The statue, which was unveiled on Feb. 8, 2024 (a nod to Bryant’s two jersey numbers of 8 and 24), does have a pretty cool story behind it. Nevertheless though, it will be tough for future visitors to overlook the multiple spelling errors on there now that they have gone viral.