It is the news many Lakers fans have been waiting three years for and now it looks like a statue to honor Kobe and Gigi Bryant will be erected outside of Crypto.com arena.
The date is rumoured to be the 8th of August 2024, which will be about four and a half years since their tragic passing, DailyMail.com reports.
“The promised Kobe Bryant statue outside LA’s Crypto.com Arena will incorporate his daughter Gigi and – in a nod to his jersey numbers, 8 and 24 – will be unveiled by the Lakers on August 8, 2024, an inside source has told DailyMail.com,” Russ Weakland and Alex Raskin said.
“Lakers owner Jeanie Buss previously revealed plans to erect a statue for Bryant after he, his 13-year-old daughter, Gigi, six friends and a pilot died in a helicopter crash in January of 2020.
“The source tells DailyMail.com that Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, is involved with the plans, but cautioned that an artist for the piece has not yet been chosen.”
A bronze statue of Kobe and his daughter was placed at the crash site in California, though there weren’t plans to keep it there permanently.
So to have one outside of the Lakers home would be a fitting tribute to the Lakers legend and Gigi, who was also a talented basketball prospect.
Naturally, there have also been talks about LeBron – the greatest scorer in the history of the game, getting his own statue outside Crypto.com arena as well.
Although, many NBA fans and media personalities alike agree that a Kobe statue should take priority.
“They gotta worry about getting that Kobe statue up first,” ESPN”s Matt Barnes told TMZ Sports in March of this year. “But obviously, LeBron is an all-time great, so I’m sure they’ll find a way to honor him with a statue.”
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