Kobe Bryant immortalized with 19 foot bronze statue
The Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a statue of Kobe Bryant on Thursday, honoring their late superstar with a 19-foot bronze likeness outside their downtown arena. The 4,000lb statue depicts Bryant in his white No 8 jersey with his right index finger raised as he walked off the court following his 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006.
Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, said during the dedication ceremony that the statue is the first of three that will be created to honor the five-time NBA champion and top scorer in Lakers history. Another statue will feature Bryant in his No. 24 jersey, which he wore for the second half of his career, while a third will depict Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, who died with him and seven others in a helicopter crash in January 2020.
“This statue may look like Kobe, but really it’s what excellence looks like,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said. “What discipline looks like. What commitment looks like. … It captures a person frozen in time, while at the same time acknowledges that the reason there is a statue in the first place is because that person is timeless.
We’re all here today to honor a man who represents not just extraordinary sports achievement, but also timeless values that inspire us all to try harder to be not just better, but our best.”
Kobe Bryant retired in 2016 after a 20-year career spent entirely with the Lakers. He is the fourth-leading scorer in NBA history with 33,643 points, and his accolades included 18 NBA All-Star selections and two NBA Finals MVP awards.
The statue’s base reads: “Kobe Bean Bryant”, with his nickname, “Black Mamba”, carved below. The triangular platform – a nod to Jackson assistant Tex Winter’s famed triangle offense, the bedrock of the Lakers’ success in the 2000s – is surrounded by five replicas of the Larry O’Brien trophy. The base includes the box score from his 81-point game and a QR code for fans to watch highlights of the performance. A Bryant quote is also featured: “Leave the game better than you found it. And when it comes time for you to leave, leave a legend.”
“Anyone who watched him play the game, knows he did things on the court unlike anyone else. He was a scrapper, a fighter, a winner and he was also an artist and he could bend the world to his will,” Lakers governor Jeanie Buss said at the ceremony of Bryant’s legacy.
“Seeing Kobe play was like watching a miracle unfold,” Buss recalled her father, Jerry, saying about Bryant. “An NBA team once offered to trade us five players in exchange for Kobe, but Dr. Buss declined, explaining Kobe was as rare as a flawless five-karat diamond and five one-karat diamonds would never equal the same value.”
Bryant won five NBA championships, was a two-time Finals MVP and an 18-time All-Star all as a member of the Lakers. He retired in 2016 as one of the best basketball players in NBA history.
Kobe Bryant was an 18-time NBA All-Star during his 20-year career with the Lakers. He is only the seventh player in franchise history to be commemorated with a statue, joined by Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Jerry West and Chick Hearn.
Bryant was posthumously voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 and was named to the NBA 76th Anniversary Teamin 2021.
Kobe Bryant retired in 2016 after a 20-year career spent entirely with the Lakers. He is the fourth-leading scorer in NBA history with 33,643 points, and his accolades included 18 NBA All-Star selections and two NBA Finals MVP awards.
His death has scarcely dimmed the shine of his presence in Los Angeles, where he remains a beloved icon of his adopted city. Bryant and his daughter are featured in hundreds of vibrant public murals across the Southland.
