Kobe Bryant will forever stand outside of Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
And he won’t be alone.
The late Lakers star, who died in a helicopter crash in January 2020, was memorialized with a statue, the first of three, which were unveiled on Thursday.
It depicts Bryant in his No. 8 jersey in the moments after his 81-point game in 2006 — a 19-foot, 4,000 pound version of the “Black Mamba” with his index finger raised in the air.
Dodgers used 6-year-old video from Kobe Bryant in pitch to Shohei Ohtani
The statue’s base reads: “Kobe Bean Bryant,” with his nickname, “Black Mamba,” carved below with five replicas of the Larry O’Brien Trophy surrounding the platform.
The other statues will be of him with his daughter Gianna, who was among the passengers in the crash, and the third shows him in his No. 24 jersey, worn in the second half of his career.
Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, spoke before a packed house of legends, including NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and revealed that Kobe picked out the pose for the No. 8 statue