Lakers News: Vanessa Bryant Reveals Kobe Bryant Will Be Honored With 3 Statues
The first of Hall of Famer former Los Angeles Lakers superstar shooting guard Kobe Bryant's apparent three bronze statues set to adorn the exterior of Crypto.com Arena has been unveiled!
Here is the moment that the figure, depicting Bryant holding his arm aloft with a finger pointing towards the sky and adorned in his original No. 8 jersey, was unleashed upon a tent full of friends, family and colleagues:
The sculpture's inspiration hails from the 18-time All-Star's postgame walk-off on that fateful January 22nd, 2006 night, when he scored a still-insane PR of 81 points against the lowly Toronto Raptors.
In a moving speech (more on that later), Bryant's widow Vanessa announced the happy news that he'll be getting two more bronze likenesses soon:
Bryant added that Kobe himself selected this No. 8 statue's initial pose years ago, and he will now stand forever in front of the so-called "House That Kobe Built."
The 6'6" wing was a lethal scoring force during his playing days, from 1996-2016. He helped lead Los Angeles to seven NBA Finals appearances, winning five. He was named Finals MVP in his last two wins, in 2009 and '10. He boasts career averages of 25 points on .447/.329/.837 shooting splits, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.5 blocks a night.
