Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna's statue placed at crash site on second death anniversary
On Wednesday, January 26, a statue honoring basketball star Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna has been placed at the site of the helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, US, two years to the day of their tragic accident.
The bronze sculpture, created by artist Dan Medina to mark their second death anniversary, shows Kobe Bryant with his arm around his daughter. It also has the names of other people who died in the crash. The two statues have big smiles on their faces.
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The base of the 160-pound bronze statue reads, "Heroes come and go, but legends are forever," along with the names of all the victims who lost their lives in the 2020 accident.
Gianna is depicted carrying a basketball while looking up and adoring her father, who in real life was 6 feet 6 inches tall. Both Kobe and Gianna Gianna are wearing their basketball uniforms. Kobe is seen in his No. 24 Lakers uniform which was his second uniform after wearing No. 8.
Overwhelmed, Bryant’s fans thanked Medina for the creation and his comment box was filled up with praises.
A fan wrote, "This is beautiful…. & Kobe is a LEGEND."
Another fan commented, "Thank You Medina!"
Seven other people lost their lives in the crash including John Altobelli, baseball coach at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa; his wife Keri Altobelli, their daughter Alyssa Altobelli, Christina Mauser, an assistant Mamba Sports Academy basketball coach, Payton Chester, a player on the team, her mother Sarah Chester; and Ara Zobayan, the plane pilot.
Artist Dan Medina told the media that the statue is just a temporary tribute and said he plans to do much more. However, he hopes that he will be allowed to put up a more permanent version of his art form.
The accident investigation revealed that the pilot became disorientated after flying the Sikorsky S-76 into clouds and this led to the crash.
Kobe is known as the greatest basketball player of all time. He began his career in 1996 straight out of high school and retired in 2016. He was a five-time NBA champion in his career. He was also a two-time Olympic gold medallist and helped the US squad of NBA stars to win titles in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012.