"Mamba Forever."
The Los Angeles Lakers have immortalized one of the team's favorite sons and one of L.A.'s most beloved sports figures.
On Thursday, the team unveiled the newest bronze statue to live outside the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles: Kobe Bryant's.
Bryant now joins the ranks of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Chick Hearn and his longtime championship running mate Shaquille O'Neal as Lakers figures to be forever enshrined outside the arena, a sports venue referred to by many as the "House that Kobe Built."
Among the speakers at Thursday's ceremony were Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, Bryant's longtime head coach Phil Jackson, his friend and teammate Derek Fisher and the aforementioned Abdul-Jabbar.
A conscious decision was made for the ceremony to be one of celebration, not of mourning for Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and the seven others who perished four years ago in a helicopter crash near Calabasas.
Those who knew him best chose to remember the player he was on the court, as well as the man he was when the arena lights faded.
A man whose own statue sits only a few feet from Bryant's, Abdul-Jabbar called being memorialized in bronze a "wonderful contradiction."
"It captures the person frozen in time, while at the same time acknowledges that the reason there is a statue in the first place is because that person is timeless," the Lakers legend said. "We're all here today to honor a man who represents not just extraordinary sports achievement, but also timeless values and inspires us all to try harder to be not just better, but our best."
Jackson drew comparisons between Bryant and another NBA legend he had the task of guiding and inspiring: Michael Jordan.
"The first year, it was, I will tell you, like looking at Michael Jordan," Jackson said. "He had everything, all the markings, the way he posed, the way he held himself. It was almost amazing."
Jackson described the competitiveness shared between the two men, mentioning a specific memory when a 22-year-old Kobe challenged the 37-year-old Jordan to a game of one-on-one.
Bryant and Jackson often butted heads during their first run together as player and coach. But the second time around, when Jackson returned to the team after a "sabbatical," things were different.
"Kobe and I worked out a pact, this time, 'Let's cooperate and collaborate,'" he said. "And that we did; we collaborated."
Fisher called Bryant the "heartbeat" of the team, a guiding force that propelled them to greatness.
He took his time to highlight Kobe as a father and honor Gianna, referring to them both as "basketball angels" worthy of celebrating.
"Let us not just dwell on the sadness of how that feels. But let us today and forever moving forward, celebrate the greatness that their lives represented," Fisher said.
The last person to speak Thursday was Kobe's wife, Vanessa Bryant. She informed the world that her husband had personally selected the pose to be used for his statue, his arm held high and a single finger pointing to the sky. It was a gesture he made often during his illustrious career.
"For the record, Kobe picked the pose you’re about to see. So anyone who has any issues with it, tough s**t,” she said, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd.
In a surprise reveal, she also announced that more Kobe tributes would be coming, with a total of three statues to be placed outside the arena.
The first that was revealed Thursday in which he's wearing the No. 8, a second as No. 24, and a third alongside his daughter, Gianna.
Never was there a more fitting day to remember the Black Mamba than Feb. 8, 2024, a day on the calendar that reads 2-8-24.
Bryant burst onto the NBA scene, captivating the sports world with his otherworldly feats of athleticism and a disarmingly charming smile, wearing the No. 8 for the Lakers. A rookie sensation, winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award as well as the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest at NBA All-Star Weekend, his sudden infiltration into the American sports discourse was undeniable.
But like many things, that partnership couldn't last forever.
Heading into the 2006-07 season, Bryant, now running the show sans the Big Diesel, determined a change was necessary.
Representing an evolution and a clean slate, Bryant switched to No. 24, a number he'd previously worn as a star at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.
He described the decision to switch from 8 to 24 in a 2017 interview with ESPN's Baxter Holmes.
"When I first came in at 8, is really trying to 'plant your flag' sort of thing," Bryant said at the time. Years later, comfortable with multiple NBA Championships and a Hall-of-Fame resume all before his 30th birthday, he felt the need to continue his evolution as a man and athlete.
He was named an NBA All-Star 10 times and won two more titles alongside co-star Pau Gasol while wearing No. 24.
"Then 24 is a growth from that. Physical attributes aren't there the way they used to be, but the maturity level is greater," he told ESPN. "Marriage, kids. Start having a broader perspective being one of the older guys on the team now, as opposed to being the youngest. Things evolve. It's not to say one is better than the other or one's a better way to be. It's just growth."
His children, Bryant often showed, were the only thing that ever eclipsed his dedication and commitment to the sport that made him a household name.
His second daughter, Gianna, aka Gigi, walked in her father's footsteps, wearing the No. 2 — a number once worn by Kobe in his youth — in her promising basketball career that was tragically cut short in the 2020 helicopter crash.
Those immortal numbers, 2, 8 and 24, match the Feb. 8, 2024, date of Thursday's ceremony, a day to remember the legacy and tragedy of Kobe Bryant.
His No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys were retired by the team in 2017; his statues revealed seven years later will honor both those iconic numbers.
The third statue will incorporate a tribute to Gigi, the ties that bind Kobe and his kids still finding a way to assert themselves as an equally important piece of his story.
But Kobe Bryant's career can be defined by more than just the numbers worn on his back.
- 20 years as a Los Angeles Laker
- 18 NBA All-Star appearances
- 15 All-NBA honors
- 12 NBA All-Defense selection
- 2 scoring titles (each with while wearing a different number)
- 1 NBA Most Valuable Player award
- 5 NBA Championships
- 2 NBA Finals MVP awards
- No. 1 in the Lakers record book for games and minutes played, steals, free throws, 3-pointers made, steals and, of course, points scored.
"Those points, those wins, those trophies, they weren't just statistics," Buss said. "They were moments that transported us and brought joy to Laker fans across the city and around the world. I have spent almost my entire life around sports, and I can tell you I've never met or witnessed anyone like Kobe Bryant."
Although a tremendous honor shared by only a chosen few, a statue is still just a statue. Those they left behind are the real legacies of Gigi and Kobe Bryant.
Alongside O'Neal, Bryant was part of three consecutive NBA championship squads, a dynasty built upon the complementary skill sets of the league's most dynamic stars.
But perhaps no number holds more importance to Kobe and his wife, Vanessa, than the number four for their daughters, Natalia, Gianna, Bianka and Capri.