We are just a few days away from the much-awaited Kobe Bryant statue unveiling: The Los Angeles Lakers announced their plans to pay tribute to the Hall of Famer with a statue last year, and it is almost time. This will be the 7th statue in Lakers history. Four years after his unfortunate passing, the statue will be unveiled on February 8, 2024, at the Crypto.com Arena. The ceremony will take place outside the stadium before the Lakers’ game that evening against the Denver Nuggets (10 p.m. ET, TNT). The event coverage will start at 6 p.m. and will air live on Spectrum SportsNet and Spectrum SportsNet+.
According to NBA.com, “Public access to the statue will be limited Feb. 8 due to the unveiling ceremony and event load out. All guests and fans entering the statue ceremony must present their specific ceremony ticket for in-person access. Game tickets do not allow access to the ceremony event.”
Fans will be able to visit the statue and honor Bryant from February 9 on Star Plaza. It will be in between the Magic Johnson statue and the Oscar De La Hoya statue. Notably, De La Hoya even suggested replacing his statue with Kobe’s after he passed away in 2020.
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Also, the statue is expected to be placed in a triangular space. It is to reportedly commemorate the iconic triangle offense run by former head coach Phil Jackson, who won five titles with Kobe Bryant.
Renowned sculptor Julie Rotblatt Amrany, who created Michael Jordan‘s Jumpman statue in Chicago, sculpted this statue. That was another tribute considering Jordan was Kobe’s idol, friend, mentor, and big brother. Notably, the statue will also have Bryant’s input, as he was involved in the initial planning of the statue before his demise.
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The celebration of Kobe Bryant’s life
The announcement of the statue was made on August 24, 2023. It was Kobe Day because of his jersey numbers 8 and 24. Also, Vanessa Bryant posted the video announcement at 8:24 AM. Furthermore, the date 2/8/24 was chosen in honor of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi. Once again, the numbers 8 and 24 are a representation of the two jersey numbers Bryant donned during his time in the NBA. The number 2 represents Gigi’s jersey number playing youth basketball.
A few days ago, Dave McMenamin reported to ESPN that people involved in the statue unveiling want the mood of the ceremony to be celebratory: A celebration of Bryant’s life and legacy.
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To commemorate the occasion, the Lakers will also wear Black Mamba-inspired uniforms; those are the same ones that Bryant helped co-design. The uniforms will include ‘LA 24’ on the belt and Bryant’s No. 8 and 24 can be seen under the flap of each leg of the shorts.
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