The second of three statues honoring late Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant outside Crypto.com Arena will be unveiled in a private ceremony on Friday, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to The Times.
The statue will honor Kobe and his daughter Gianna, both of whom were among the nine people killed in the Calabasas helicopter crash on January 26, 2020.
It’s unclear when the statue will be open to the public.
The unveiling date — August 2, 2024 — is significant because it involves jersey numbers No. 8 and 24, which Bryant wore with the Lakers, as well as No. 2, which Gianna wore while playing at Kobe’s Mamba Academy. Number.
Crypto.com Arena’s first Kobe Bryant statue was unveiled on an equally important day in February (2/8/24). The 19-foot-tall, 4,000-pound bronze monument depicts Bryant wearing No. 8. He pointed to the sky, recreating his 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors in 2006.
“For the record,” his wife Vanessa Bryant said at the unveiling, “Kobe chose the pose that you’re going to see, so if anyone has any questions about that, please stick to it.”
An inscription beneath the statue contains the score record for the game. The statue originally contained misspellings of two players’ names as well as the word “decision.” These typos have been corrected.
A third planned statue, to be unveiled at a later date, will show Bryant wearing No. 24, which he wore for the final 10 years of his 20-year career with the Lakers.
Second-rateTAAF writer Dan Woick contributed to this report.
