New statue honoring Kobe and Gianna Bryant unveiled outside of Crypto.com Arena
The second of three statues honoring Kobe Bryant was officially unveiled on Friday in downtown Los Angeles.
A statue featuring Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who were among seven killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California in 2020, was debuted in a private ceremony outside of Crypto.com Arena. The statue shows Bryant kissing Gianna on the forehead while sitting on folding chairs with angel wings behind them.
The Los Angeles Lakers unveil statue of Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna, the second of three statues to honor the Hall of Famer in downtown LA pic.twitter.com/iNtoKt0ChV
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) August 2, 2024
The statue, which is located near a Los Angeles Kings statue outside the Lakers' downtown L.A. arena, was unveiled on Friday to honor both Bryant’s and Gianna’s basketball numbers. Friday’s date, 8/2/24, featured both of Bryant’s numbers, 8 and 24, and Gianna’s No. 2.
The statue features a quote from Bryant about his daughter, too, with the description of “Most Valuable Girl Dad” under his name.
“Gianna is a beast. She’s better than I was at her age. She’s got it. Girls are amazing. I would have five more girls if I could. I’m a girl dad.”
The statue will be officially open to the public on Saturday morning.
The first statue honoring Bryant was put up in February, though several errors were immediately brought to light by fans. The statue, which sits near several other statues honoring iconic Los Angeles athletes in the plaza in front of the arena, had multiple typos on it. Those were fixed in April.
A third memorial — a 19-foot bronze statue that will honor Bryant’s 81-point game with the Lakers — will be unveiled at some point next season. It’s unclear when that will be erected or where it will be specifically outside the arena.
