Kobe Bryant and Daughter Gianna Statue Unveiled at Crypto.com Arena

The second of three monuments honoring one of the greatest NBA players ever (a man with a legacy of winning five NBA championships, two Olympic gold medals, as well as making 18 NBA All-Star game appearances); was revealed on Friday. However, this time it includes his beloved and talented daughter, Gigi. This afternoon the Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Statue was unveiled at Crypto.com Arena.

It features some beautiful wording. Under Gianna’s name it reads: Inspirational icon for girls and sports. Under Kobe it says: Proud father of women in sports. And it includes a single from Kobe: “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.—Kobe Bryant—Most Valuable Girl Dad.”

Those honoring Kobe and his daughter wanted to do so down to the smallest of details. For instance, the dates for the unveilings were also carefully considered and arranged. For instance, the first statue that stands outside the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center); was finally revealed earlier this year in the month of February, on 2/8/24. It is a 19-foot bronze memorial depicting Bryant in his No. 8 jersey celebrating his virtuoso 81-point performance against Toronto.

However, this selected date back in February fittingly coincided with Kobe and his daughter Gianna’s jersey numbers. Bryant famously wore the number 8 early in his career and then later 24. While his daughter wore the number 2 jersey.

Nevertheless, in keeping with this honoring of Gigi and Kobe who sadly lost their lives in a helicopter crash during 2020. Organizers of the unveilings once more decided to incorporate their jersey numbers. For the second statue, they chose the date of 8/2/24. Which utilizes all of their numbers, and thus allows one and all to reflect on the impact Kobe had on the NBA; and what might have been in the cards for Gianna in the WNBA. Even NBA.com acknowledged the bright future Gigi had planned. They state,

“Her name was Gianna Maria Onore Bryant. The world, now and forever, knows her as Gigi. Her dad, Kobe Bryant, called her Mambacita. He was Mamba, of course, and she was going to be basketball’s female version of him. She was going to play at Connecticut and head to the WNBA. That was the plan.

‘Gigi was really turning into a special player,’ said Russ Davis, the women’s basketball coach at Vanguard University in Southern California and someone who became close with Bryant in recent years. ‘It’s hard to predict her future, but with the way she was improving and the way she understood the game, she was going to have a bright one.’”

Kobe Bryant and Daughter Gianna Statue Unveiled at Crypto.com Arena

The actual statue of Kobe and Gigi features the pair in a seated position and lovingly hugging each other. It conveys a touching moment locked in time of a father and his young little girl. From their outfits it looks to be of Kobe and Gianna Bryant at a game between the LA Lakers and Dallas Mavericks in December 2019. Bryant appeared to be giving his daughter basketball-related pointers and Gigi just nodded, smiled, and laughed. A courtside scene many of us got used to seeing.

Kobe was wearing an orange WNBA hoodie and a green Philadelphia Eagles beanie cap at that game. With Gigi wearing a black hoodie and yellow pants. The statue designers did a wonderful job capturing this real life occasion. Which gives deserved recognition and accolades to these two wonderful individuals.

If you would like to see this statue outside the Lakers home, fans will be able to come see it beginning on Saturday, August 3rd. This statue now joins other monuments dedicated to: Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Jerry West and announcer Chick Hearn.

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