Kobe Bryant’s statue will be unveiled in Star Plaza in front of Crypto.com Arena, “The House that Kobe Built,” in Los Angeles on 2-8-24 — this date was chosen for the significance of those numbers.
Bryant, who played for the Lakers from 1996 to 2016, was killed four years ago in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, just northwest of downtown Los Angeles, along with his daughter Gianna and seven others. They were on their way to her basketball game on Jan. 26, 2020, when the copter crashed in heavy fog. She wore No. 2. He wore both No. 8 and No. 24. Hence, 2-8-24.
The statue will be unveiled before the Lakers’ game against the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets. The Lakers will wear their “Black Mamba” uniforms, which Bryant helped design, for the game. Black Mamba was Bryant’s nickname.
His statue, sculpted by Julie Rotblatt Amrany, will join those of fellow Lakers greats Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Shaquille O’Neal and legendary broadcaster Chick Hearn. Star Plaza also includes four hockey figures (Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille and Dustin Brown and broadcaster Bob Miller) and boxing champion Oscar de la Hoya.
