The Los Angeles Lakers will unveil a statue of Kobe Bryant exterior its downtown area on Feb. 8.
The 17-time NBA champion Lakers introduced the plan Thursday to honour Bryant, the fourth-leading scorer in NBA historical past and a beloved mainstay of the franchise for 20 seasons.
Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, died in a helicopter crash in January 2020.
ALSO READ: James Harden fined USD 100,000 for public feedback about standing with 76ers
Bryant participated within the preliminary planning of his statue after his retirement in 2016, based on the Lakers. He’s the sixth former Lakers participant and seventh group worker to be honoured with a statue within the so-called “Star Plaza” exterior the world, which has been the Lakers’ dwelling since 1999.
The two/8/24 date of the disclosing is conspicuous: Kobe wore No. 8 and No. 24 throughout every half of his Lakers profession, whereas Gianna wore No. 2 whereas taking part in youth basketball. The Bryants have been flying collectively to a basketball competitors with seven others when their helicopter crashed in fog in Calabasas, California.
Bryant’s statue will be part of these of Lakers greats Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Jerry West and broadcaster Chick Hearn.
Star Plaza additionally contains statues of the Los Angeles Kings’ Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Dustin Brown and announcer Bob Miller, together with champion boxer Oscar De La Hoya.
The Lakers say they’re planning “a sequence of bodily tributes” to honor Bryant past the statue, which is designed by sculptor Julie Rotblatt Amrany.
“Kobe Bryant was one of the vital extraordinary athletes of all time and one of the vital iconic people within the historical past of Los Angeles,” Lakers proprietor Jeanie Buss mentioned in an announcement.
“There is no such thing as a higher place for Kobe to be honoured with a statue than right here on the centre of our metropolis, the place everybody can have fun him and be impressed by his unbelievable achievements.”