Fans Continue To Pay Respects To Kobe Bryant At Memorial Outside Of Staples Center And Around L.A.
LOS ANGELES, CA - Fans continue to pay their respects to Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, 13, at a memorial set up near Kareem Abdul Jabbar statue outside of Staples Center. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

The Los Angeles Lakers were always expected to put up a statue of Kobe Bryant, and now a date on when that will happen has been revealed.

The date on when the Kobe Bryant statue would be out was revealed no less by the Black Mamba's wife, Vanessa Bryant. It will be put up outside the Crytpo.com arena on February 8, 2024, an announcement made via the Lakers' Twitter account.

"On behalf of the Lakers, my daughters and me, I am so honored that right in the center of Los Angeles in front of the place known as 'The house that Kobe built,' we are going to unveil a statue so that his legacy can be celebrated forever," the wife of the late Lakers' star stated.

The date is perfect, considering it references the numbers that Kobe and Gigi Bryant wore when they played ball. Gigi wore the no. 2 on her basketball team, while Kobe Bryant fans knew that the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player donned the no. 8 and no. 24 jerseys during his illustrious NBA career.

It was not mentioned if the statue would officially include Gigi Bryant. There have been claims that the planned statue would include her, but this was not mentioned in the announcement of Vanessa Bryant.

Kobe Bryant had been involved in planning his statue even before his death, according to a release from the NBA. He will be the seventh Laker to be honored with a statue.

Kobe Bryant will append the list of legends who donned the purple and gold, such as Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jerry West, and Chick Hearn.