Kobe Bean Bryant was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). One of the greatest players in the history of basketball, Bryant won five NBA championships and was an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP. He ranks fourth in league all-time regular season and postseason scoring. Bryant was posthumously voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 and named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
Joseph Washington "Jellybean" Bryant was an American professional basketball player and coach. He played for the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers, and Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played for several teams in Italy and one in France. Bryant was the head coach of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks from 2005 to 2007 and returned to that position for the remainder of the 2011 WNBA season. Bryant also coached in Japan and Thailand. His son, basketball player Kobe Bryant, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999 as the Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street, and has since been considered a part of L.A. Live. Owned and operated by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), it is the home venue of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL)—which are both owned in part by AEG's founder Philip Anschutz, as well as the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.
The logos and uniforms of the Los Angeles Lakers have gone through many changes throughout the history of the team.
Julie Rotblatt-Amrany is an American sculptor and painter, whose work explores the resurgence of the figure in modern art.
Gary Tillery is an American writer and artist known for his biographies focusing on the spiritual lives of famous figures, and for his public sculptures. His 2009 book, The Cynical Idealist, was named the official book of the 2010 John Lennon Tribute in New York City, and he created the centerpiece sculpture of the Chicago Vietnam Veterans Memorial, dedicated in 2005.
The 2019–20 NBA season was the 74th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 22, 2019, and originally was supposed to end on April 15, 2020. The 2020 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 16, at the United Center in Chicago, and was won by Team LeBron, 157–155. The playoffs were originally scheduled to begin on April 18, and end with the NBA Finals in June.
On January 26, 2020, a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter crashed in the city of Calabasas, California, around 30 mi (48 km) northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, while en route from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport. All nine people on board were killed: retired professional basketball player Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna; baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri, and his daughter Alyssa; Sarah Chester and their daughter Payton; basketball coach Christina Mauser; and the pilot, Ara Zobayan.
Kobe Bryant Day is a day that is celebrated on August 24 in Los Angeles and Orange County commemorating the life of basketball player Kobe Bryant. The date was chosen as the holiday because of Bryant's numbers on his jerseys, as well as it being the day after his birthday, August 23. On July 27, 2021, California Congresswoman Michelle Steel introduced a resolution that would recognize the day nationally.
Vanessa Marie Bryant is an American businesswoman, philanthropist, and model. She is the widow of American professional basketball player Kobe Bryant. With her husband, she founded the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Foundation in 2007 to provide scholarships to minority college students worldwide. Bryant leads the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting child athletes who are in need.
A statue of American basketball player Shaquille O'Neal by artists Omri Amrany and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany is installed outside Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. The 9-foot-tall, 1,200 pound sculpture was installed in 2017.
A statue of basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by artists Julie Rotblatt-Amrany and Omri Amrany is installed outside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, in the U.S. state of California. The bronze sculpture was unveiled in 2012. It depicts Abdul-Jabbar shooting his patent skyhook shot. Abdul-Jabbar was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association from 1975 to 1989.
A statue of basketball player Magic Johnson by Omri Amrany and Gary Tillery is installed outside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, in the U.S. state of California. The sculpture was unveiled in 2004.
A bronze statue of Jerry West by Omri Amrany and Julie Rotblatt Amrany is installed outside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, in the U.S. state of California. The sculpture was unveiled in 2011.
A statue of sportscaster Bob Miller by artists Julie Rotblatt Amrany and Omri Amrany is installed outside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, in the U.S. state of California. He was the Los Angeles Kings' longtime broadcaster from 1973 to 2017. The sculpture was unveiled in 2018.
A statue of sportscaster Chick Hearn by Julie Rotblatt Amrany and Omri Amrany is installed outside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, in the U.S. state of California. The bronze and steel sculpture was unveiled in 2010. An empty chair is provided next to the statue to allow people to sit in for a picture taking.
A statue of American basketball player Elgin Baylor by artists Omri Amrany and Gary Tillery is installed outside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, in the U.S. state of California. The bronze sculpture was unveiled in 2018. Baylor played for the Los Angeles Lakers and was the longtime general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers.
A statue of ice hockey player Luc Robitaille by artists Julie Rotblatt Amrany, Omri Amrany, and Itamar Amrany is installed outside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, in the U.S. state of California. The bronze sculpture was unveiled in 2015.
The Kobe Bean Bryant Memorial Statue is a work of public art by American artist and sculptor Julie Rotblatt-Amrany. The 19-foot bronze sculpture of the American basketball player Kobe Bryant was commissioned by Bryant's widow, Vanessa Bryant in her husband's honor, and stands on a plinth in front of the Crypto.com Arena located in downtown Los Angeles. The statue was unveiled in 2024. The sculpture is the first of the three memorials planned to stand outside the Lakers downtown arena.
Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, also known as Gigi Bryant and Mambacita, was an American student-athlete and the daughter of former professional basketball player Kobe Bryant. Together with her father and seven others, she died in a helicopter crash in 2020 at age 13.
