The lives of NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, were honored with a sculpture at the crash site where they died two years ago Wednesday.
Bryant, 41 at the time, and his 13-year-old daughter were flying from Orange County, California, to Ventura County for a youth basketball tournament at his Mamba Sports Academy when the helicopter crashed into a Calabasas hillside in Los Angeles after encountering fog. Kobe and Gianna Bryant were among the nine people killed Jan. 26, 2020.
Sculptor Dan Medina posted photos of the statue on Instagram and told TMZ Sports he only displayed the sculpture for the day but plans to bring it back to the crash site for every anniversary and Kobe Bryant’s birthdays.
“I think we need something like this to be installed on a permanent basis,” Medina told the Daily Mail. “It hasn’t been done yet and this is maybe a catalyst for that, but I’m willing to donate whatever is here at no cost. That’s the hope, to find a way to have it permanently installed.”
The statue weighs 160 pounds and measures a couple of feet tall. It features Kobe Bryant fondly looking down at Gianna with his arm on her shoulder. Kobe Bryant is wearing his No. 24 Lakers jersey, with his daughter wearing a jersey and holding a basketball.
Medina told TMZ Sports he is 90% done with a larger life-size version that will stand 6 feet, 7 inches tall.
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At the base of the statue, Medina inscribed, “Heroes come and go but legends are forever.”
Medina recently visited the crash site to find it empty with a “few rocks and dried flowers.”
“I thought they deserved more,” Medina told the Daily Mail. “Not just Kobe and Gigi, but all of the lives who were lost that day.”
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Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, filed a lawsuit claiming graphic photos showing Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s bodies at the crash site were passed around by local deputies and firefighters in bars and at a media awards gala. The trial is set to begin Feb. 22.
