LA Lakers Erect Statue of NBA Legend Kobe Bryant at Home Stadium

He is the sixth Lakers player to win the bronze medal, following O’Neal, Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, West, and Baylor.

The Los Angeles (LA) Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) erected a statue in honor of the late ‘legend’ Kobe Bryant at their home stadium.

According to ESPN on the 9th (Korean time), the Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a bronze statue of Bryant measuring about 5.8 meters and weighing about 바카라사이트 1.8 tons outside the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.

The statue depicts Bryant walking off the court wearing his white No. 8 uniform and pointing his right index finger toward the sky after scoring 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006.

Bryant’s nickname, ‘Black Mamba’, was engraved on the base of the statue along with the words ‘Kobe Bryant’.

The box score of the game that scored 81 points was carved on the cornerstone at the bottom of the statue, and a QR code was also provided to view the highlight video of the game.

Bryant, a ‘one-club man’ who played exclusively for the LA Lakers for 20 years starting from the 1996-1997 season,

established himself as a ‘legend of the LA Lakers’ both on and off the court, to the point where he was called the successor to ‘basketball king’ Michael Jordan.

Bryant’s career score of 33,643 points ranks fourth in NBA history.

However, he suddenly passed away along with his second daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash in January 2020.

Along with Lakers legends and hundreds of fans, Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, owner Jeanie Buss,

NBA legend and Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and others attended the statue’s inauguration ceremony.

Vanessa introduced that this statue was the first of three statues created in his honor.

The second statue is wearing Bryant’s other jersey number,

number 24, and the third statue is modeled after Gianna.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said, “We came together to honor Kobe Bryant’s spirit,

not only for his incredible accomplishments, but also for his hard work to reach the top.”

Bryant is the sixth Lakers player statue to be erected at Crypto.com Arena’s Star Plaza,

following Shaquille O’Neal, Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor.

The statue of announcer Chick Hearn, who only broadcast Lakers games for 42 years, also stands at Star Plaza.