Statue of Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna erected on second anniversary of their tragic deaths
Wed, Jan 26, 2022
NBA News (AP)
It's been two years to the day since the tragic death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna. To honor them and the seven others who lost their lives in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, Calif. on Jan. 26, 2020, L.A.-based sculptor Dan Medina erected a temporary statue of Kobe and Gianna Bryant at the crash site.
The bronze statue shows Kobe Bryant dressed in his Los Angeles Lakers uniform and putting his arm around Gianna, who's looking up at him while holding a basketball. Gianna Bryant, who was traveling to a youth basketball tournament with her father before their deaths, is also wearing hoops gear.
A sculpture of Kobe and Gigi Bryant on the anniversary of air disaster that claimed their lives and seven others is temporarily erected at the Calabasas crash site by sculptor Dan Medina. He pulled 150- pound bronze up the hill. It is a smaller of one of a life size he is making pic.twitter.com/72qhFfAgTq
- Richard Winton (@LAcrimes) January 26, 2022
A bronze sculpture of basketball great Kobe Bryant & daughter, Gigi, was erected temporarily at the Calabasas crash site on the 2nd anniversary of the disaster that also claimed the lives of 7 others. Sculptor Dan Medina pulled the 150-lbs sculpture up a steep hill. #girldad pic.twitter.com/L8ln4OtZSq
- Richard Winton (@LAcrimes) January 26, 2022
Medina added the names of Kobe and Gianna Bryant, plus the seven others who died in the crash, to the statue's base. The statue's base also reads "Heroes come and go, but legends are forever."
The Kobe and Gianna Bryant statue reportedly weighs 160 pounds, and Medina hauled it uphill with a wagon on Wednesday. Medina plans to remove it by sunset, however, as he's lobbying for an opportunity to build a larger, permanent version.
A large statue would be fitting for Kobe Bryant, who had a larger-than-life NBA career. The former Lakers star won five championships, claimed the scoring title twice, made 12 All-Defensive teams and earned 18 All Star selections over his two-decade career in Los Angeles.
Bryant was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on May 16, 2021, 16 months after his death at age 41.
