Corrections to Kobe Bryant statue outside arena completed
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Vanessa Bryant, Lakers unveil Kobe statue (0:50)
In February, Vanessa Bryant revealed that Kobe picked the pose on the first of three statues that will be outside Crypto.com Arena. (0:50)
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Dave McMenamin, ESPN Staff WriterApr 9, 2024, 02:30 PM ET
- Lakers and NBA reporter for ESPN.
- Covered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14, the Cavaliers from 2014-18 for ESPN.com and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09.
LOS ANGELES — Corrections to the Kobe Bryant statue outside of Crypto.com Arena were completed Tuesday morning, just in time for the Los Angeles Lakers‘ final regular-season home game against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
The 19-foot bronze statue, which was unveiled in February, needed several errors on the marble base corrected.
The names of Jose Calderon and Von Wafer were initially misspelled on the replica box score from Bryant’s 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors.
The Kobe Bryant statue restoration was finished this morning outside of https://t.co/RbGGF9YhdO Arena pic.twitter.com/zos90M7zoJ
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 9, 2024
The formatting on the list of career statistical achievements on the front of the base was also adjusted. And Bryant’s facsimile signature was recreated to simply read “Kobe,” rather than “Kobe 24,” since the statue shows Bryant wearing his white, No. 8 Lakers uniform.
The monument, which has quickly become a popular destination point for fans before and after Laker games, is the first of three statues planned to honor the Lakers great, according to his widow, Vanessa Bryant.
The planned location and the unveiling date for the other two statues — one of Bryant in his No. 24 uniform and the other with his daughter Gianna, who also died in the 2020 helicopter crash — are still to be determined, according to a Lakers spokesperson.
