Kobe Bryant Memorial Set For Feb. 24
By: Giselle Martinez
@GISELLEM8899
Legend Kobe Bean Bryant, shooting guard to NBA Los Angeles Lakers, passed away on Sunday, January 26 from a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Los Angeles. In the helicopter with him was his daughter Gianna Bryant, Payton Chester, Sarah Chester, Alyssa Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, John Altobelli, Christina Mauser, and pilot Ara Zobayan. To commemorate him, fans set up a memorial outside of Staples Center to honor him and the other victims of the crash. Staples Center let the memorial grow for a week before there, being any mention of removing it. According to NBC News Vanessa Laine Bryant, Kobe Bryant's widow, requested items from the fan made memorial at Staples Center.
Staples Center President Lee Zeidman tweeted, "On behalf of all us who work @STAPLESCenter @LALIVE thank u to those who have come downtown peacefully & respectfully to pay their respects to Kobe & Gianna Bryant and rest assured that the tributes u have left will be delivered to the Bryant family."
On Monday, February 3 Staples Center began to take apart the massive memorial constructed by Bryant's fans. The clean up lasted about five hours. According to Zeidman, 1353 basketballs dedicated to Kobe and Gianna, fourteen banners, twenty five thousand candles, five thousand of signs/letters/flags, five hundred stuffed animals, three hundred fifty shoes and a forty yard trash bin filled with flowers were cleaned up. Zeidman stated that the flowers will be ground into mulch to be spread throughout the landscape around L.A. Live and Staples Center and all the items collected, that are not being sent to Vanessa Bryant, are going to be stored with Lakers deciding what to do with them. Fans are now being asked to donate to the Bryant foundation instead of bringing an item back to Staples Center.
According to the L.A. Times and their sources, it was revealed that Los Angeles will be hosting a public memorial at Staples Center to commemorate Kobe Bryant and the eight other victims who died in the helicopter crash. It is planned to take place on Feb. 24, 2020. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti stated last week that the production of the memorial is still in the wraps.
“I think one message that I would say is this is not just about a man who was a basketball player, this is about a father, this is about a leader, this is about a filmmaker, this is about an artist, this is about somebody who was so much more than just how he was on the court... we will absolutely do everything to make sure that this is done so that everybody can come to it as well,” Mayor Garcetti told reporters.
L.A. Times sources say entry will be extremely secure because of the limited seating. The memorial will be taking place in between two Lakers games against the Boston Celtics and the New Orleans Pelicans.
Widow, Vanessa Bryant, the Lakers organization and Staples helped to decide on the date. According to KTLA the date could be seen as symbolic because Bryant's jersey number was twenty-four and Gianna's jersey number was two.