New statue honoring Kobe and Gianna Bryant unveiled outside Crypto.com Arena

The second of three statues honoring Kobe Bryant was officially unveiled Friday in downtown Los Angeles.

A statue of Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who were among seven killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California in 2020, was debuted in a private ceremony outside the Crypto.com Arena. The statue shows Bryant kissing Gianna on the forehead while sitting on folding chairs with angel wings behind them.

The statue, located near a Los Angeles Kings statue outside the Lakers’ arena in downtown Los Angeles, was unveiled on Friday to honor the basketball numbers of Bryant and Gianna. The date Friday, 8/2/24, featured Bryant’s two numbers, 8 and 24, and Gianna’s number 2.

The statue also features a quote from Bryant about his daughter, with the description “Most Valuable Girl Dad” in her name.

The statue will officially open to the public on Saturday morning.

The first statue honoring Bryant was erected in February, although several errors were immediately revealed by fans. The statue, which stands near several other statues honoring other iconic Los Angeles athletes in the plaza in front of the arena, had several typos. These were corrected in April.

A third memorial — a 19-foot bronze statue that will honor Bryant’s 81-point game with the Lakers — will be unveiled sometime next season. It’s unclear when that will happen or where it will be specifically outside of the arena.