{"id":52813,"date":"2023-08-24T14:24:04","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T18:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=52813"},"modified":"2023-08-24T14:24:04","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T18:24:04","slug":"nba-news-lakers-to-unveil-kobe-bryant-statue-on-feb-8-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/08\/24\/nba-news-lakers-to-unveil-kobe-bryant-statue-on-feb-8-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA News: Lakers to Unveil Kobe Bryant Statue on Feb. 8, 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/teams\/LAL\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Los Angeles Lakers<\/strong><\/a> will unveil a statue of the late legend\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bryanko01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Kobe Bryant<\/strong><\/a> on Feb. 8, 2024, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Lakers\/status\/1694732294190211358\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an announcement<\/a> made by the team on \u201cMamba Day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Lakers to unveil Kobe statue on 2\/8\/24 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/auW51c8E9Y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/auW51c8E9Y<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarcJSpears\/status\/1694733508881563657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 24, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The statement also notes that:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cFollowing his retirement, Kobe Bryant participated in the initial planning of the anticipated statue to come at Star Plaza. This is a first in a series of physical tributes to honor his legacy. Bryant will be the seventh Laker to be commemorated with a statue, joining Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O\u2019Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin \u201cMagic\u201d Johnson, Jerry West, and Chick Hearn.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;Always &amp; forever in our hearts.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PfHr3TX2qp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/PfHr3TX2qp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Lakers\/status\/1694743367232405939?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 24, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Lakers to Unveil Kobe Bryant Statue on Feb. 8, 2024<\/h2>\n<h3><b>Background<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the greatest NBA players of all time, the Hall-of-Famer Bryant spent his entire 20-year career donning purple and gold. He was the first player to ever spend at least two decades with one franchise. Bryant had many timeless memories in a Lakers uniform, and etched his Laker legacy with each new accomplishment. Among other accolades, Bryant was a five-time NBA champion, two-time Finals MVP, Olympic gold medalist, 18-time All Star, and the 2007-08 MVP. He was also named to the NBA\u2019s 75th Anniversary Team and won an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.today.com\/popculture\/oscars-2020-what-did-kobe-bryant-win-oscar-t173528\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oscar in 2018 for his animated short film, \u201cDear Basketball.\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bryant was a relentless scorer and oftentimes put up video-game numbers in NBA games. He embarked on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/514596-remembering-the-2002-2003-season-kobes-streak-of-nine-straight-40-point-games\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a nine-game streak of scoring 40-plus points<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2003, and famously dropped 81 against the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/teams\/TOR\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Toronto Raptors<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on Jan. 22, 2006\u2014the second-highest scoring game in NBA history. Although he averaged 25 points per game over 20 years, Kobe&#8217;s true impact goes well beyond the box score.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In recent years, Bryant mentored the league\u2019s next generation of stars, propelling them to reach their own levels of greatness. He has several <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/dTRBnHtHehQ?si=7BK5Dn_HO_odpGei\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">videos full of inspirational wisdom<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> applicable to life beyond basketball. Additionally, Bryant\u2019s teammates, competitors and mentees have shared countless stories about the NBA legend, whether it was his insane work ethic\u2014the \u201cMamba Mentality\u2014or the trash talk that he backed up on the court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In countless ways, Kobe made his mark on the NBA and the game of basketball as a whole. After his tragic passing in 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/07\/13\/kobe-bryant-honored-cover-nba-2k24-legendary-tribute\/\" target=\"_self\">his memory lives on<\/a>, soon to be immortalized in front of \u201cThe House That Kobe Built.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>What the Kobe Bryant Statue Could Look Like<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For years, fans have speculated on what a potential Bryant statue would look like. Some have pointed to his <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fadeaway jumper<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while others have argued his <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KBsLakeShow24\/status\/1537799985596706816\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">scorers table celebration<\/a> after winning the 2010 title would be appropriate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whatever is chosen, the statue is a perfect reflection of Kobe\u2019s legacy with the Lakers. It\u2019s fitting that it will happen on a date that honors Bryant and his daughter, Gigi.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>The Last Word<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMamba Day\u201d has meant a lot to Lakers and NBA fans worldwide, even more so in the past few years. This announcement gives fans something to look forward to, as Bryant\u2019s memory and legacy will be enshrined in bronze forever.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Lakers will unveil a statue of the late legend\u00a0Kobe Bryant on Feb. 8, 2024, according to an announcement made by the team on \u201cMamba Day.\u201d Lakers to unveil Kobe statue on 2\/8\/24 pic.twitter.com\/auW51c8E9Y &mdash; Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 24, 2023 The statement also notes that: \u201cFollowing his retirement, Kobe Bryant participated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":51733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62,3],"tags":[551],"class_list":["post-52813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","tag-kobe-bryant"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}