Back in February, the Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a Kobe Bryant statue outside the Lakers’ arena. At that time, Vanessa Bryant, his widow, revealed that two more statues were on the way.
Now, it is learned that the Lakers are set to unveil the second statue which will memorialize Bryant and his daughter Gigi on Friday. Dave McMenamin from ESPN reported this news on Thursday. Kobe Bryant, Gigi, and seven others died in a fetal helicopter crash in January 2020.
According to ESPN, the second statue will be on display for public viewing from Saturday.
Back in February, the first statue featuring Kobe Brant was unveiled on 2-8-24. It’s a date that holds significance to the franchise and Kobe as it has two numbers worn by Kobe Bryant – no. 8 and no.24 – and a number worn by Gigi – no. 2.
So, it’s no coincidence that the Lakers are doing this on August 2. For this unveiling, the date will be 8-2-24. It will also hold significance to the franchise.
ESPN also reports that a third statue will be unveiled during the 2024-2025 season of the NBA. According to his widow, Venessa Bryant, the third statue will feature Bryant wearing jersey no. 24.
The pose of the first statue is similar to what Kobe took when he left the floor after his famous 81-point game in 2006.
Bryant is a legend of the game and the seventh laker to get a statue. The other six famous athletes were Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, and announcer Chick Hearn.
However, he will be the first player to get more than one statues just as he played with multiple jersey numbers.