Lakers Make Huge Kobe Bryant Announcement

There are few more iconic figures in Los Angeles Lakers history than the late, great Kobe Bryant. Very few Lakers supporters, if any, will disagree with this notion.

Earlier this year, the Lakers honored the former league MVP and four-time NBA champion with a statue to commemorate his iconic 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors during the 2005-06 season.

This was the first of three statues that will be built to pay tribute to Bryant's iconic 20-year career.

On Thursday, the Lakers announced that the second statue is now set to be unveiled on Friday. This report comes via NBA insider Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

"A statue depicting Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna 'Gigi' Bryant will be unveiled in a private tented ceremony Friday outside of Crypto.com Arena, sources told ESPN," McMenamin wrote.

What makes this statue special is that Kobe will be joined by his daughter Gigi, who along with his father and seven other victims, also passed away in January 2020 after a tragic helicopter accident in Calabasas, California.

The ESPN report also indicates that the new statue will be located "near the Los Angeles Kings' monument celebrating the team's 50th anniversary" and will be accessible to the public by Saturday morning.

For additional context, the new statue will be unveiled on 8/2/24, commemorating the two jersey numbers Kobe wore during his time with the Lakers (8 and 24) and Gigi's jersey number (2).

According to McMenamin, the third statue is "expected to be unveiled sometime next season."

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