Lovely Statue of Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna placed at crash site on 2-year anniversary of deaths

Lovely Statue of Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna placed at crash site on 2-year anniversary of deaths

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:54 PM
  • Sculptor Dan Medina took it upon himself to erect a statue of the late Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna at their site of the fatal helicopter crash in 2020
  • Kobe and Gianna were among nine people who died in the crash two years ago
  • On the anniversary of their deaths, fans all over the world remembered Kobe as a legend of the basketball sport

A statue of the late basketball star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Has been placed at the site of the crash, two years to the day of their tragic deaths alongside seven others.

Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant and his daughter were immortalized through a bronze statue which was erected at their crash site. Photo: Dan Medina.
Source: UGC

Sculptor Dan Medina created the statue that showed Kobe, still in the LA Lakers uniform with his arm around his daughter Gianna, who is holding a basketball on her side.

The statue, which is a 73-kilogram bronze, is temporary, but Medina is hoping a permanent figure can be created to immortalize Kobe.

Medina, who took the statue to the crash site in California himself, says he did it on his own volition.

"This is all on my own, no-one asked me to do it," Medina told NBC Los Angeles.
"On this day, the second anniversary of the accident, I decided to bring it up from sunrise to sunset and create a bit of a healing process for fans.
"Today was special because I witnessed a lot of that. People would come up and they would leave with some sort of satisfaction."

On the statue’s base are the names of all nine victims who lost their lives in the tragic crash.

One of Kobe’s most famous quotes which goes, “'Heroes come and go, but legends are forever' is also engraved on the base of the statue.

The helicopter crash took place in the hills west of Los Angeles, while Kobe and his daughter were on their way to a girls’ basketball tournament which Giannna was set to feature in.

Last February, the National Transportation Safety Board released a report blaming the crash on poor weather and poor decisions by the pilot.

Kobe’s death anniversary was marked on social media all over the world, with many fans showing they still had fond memories of the Hall of famer.

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Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.
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