Jewish Artist Creates Statue to Immortalize Kobe Bryant (2024)

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Jewish Artist Creates Statue to Immortalize Kobe Bryant? ›

Julie Rotblatt-Amrany works on the statue of Kobe Bryant. Standing at 19 feet tall in a pose from an iconic 2006 81-point game, the bronze and granite statue of Lakers star Kobe Bryant attracted droves of fans upon its unveiling in Downtown Los Angeles earlier this month.

Plaschke: Kobe Bryant statue a perfect portrayal of Lakers legend's inclusiveness and defiance. The Lakers are planning to fix the mistakes on the statue sculpted by Julie Rotblatt Amrany.

The 4,000-pound statue depicts Bryant in his white No. 8 jersey with his right index finger raised as he walked off the court following his 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006.

More than four years after Bryant, his daughter Gianna Bryant and seven others died in a helicopter crash, a 19-foot statue was unveiled on Thursday outside of the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles, KTLA reported. The date of the unveiling, 2/8/24, was significant for the Bryants.

ESPN - Kobe Bryant's statue is inspired by his pose after his 81-point game in 2006 👏 Los Angeles Lakers | NBA | Facebook.

Vanessa Bryant also announced that the statue is the first of three that will be placed outside the arena. The second one will feature him wearing a No. 24 jersey and a third will feature his daughter, Gianna Bryant.

The burial occurred at Pacific View Memorial Park, which is near the family's home in Orange County. Burial originally was planned for Westwood Village Memorial Park but was changed. Bryant and his daughter, 13, were killed along with seven other people in a helicopter crash Jan.

In a 2004 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Wayne's son Ethan said the site initially went unmarked out of respect for the families of those buried nearby. “They don't want their loved ones' graves trampled on,” he said.

The Lakers announced last month that Bryant would get two more statues, one with him in a No. 24 jersey, which he wore in his last 10 seasons, and the other with daughter Gianna, who also was killed in the crash.

The first statue – revealed Thursday – is in honor of Bryant's 81-point game, the second statue will be of Bryant and his daughter Gianna and a third statue will have Bryant in the No. 24 jersey.

Why are Kobe's so expensive? ›

Though still considered superior beef, the price of wagyu can be less than a third that of Kobe. That said, Kobe beef, coming from purebred Japanese Black cows, is still a subsection of wagyu beef. It's just very rare, carefully controlled to exacting standards, and costs a whole lot more.

And slept with his family at their house in Newport Coast. A makeshift memorial created by mourners to honor Kobe Bryant sits outside the gated Pelican Crest community in Newport Coast, where he lived with his family.

The name of former Laker Von Wafer is spelled "Vom Wafer" on the statue. The name of former Toronto Raptors guard Jose Calderon is spelled "Jose Calderson." Finally, the words "Coach's Decision" are misspelled "Coach's Decicion" next to the name of former Raptor Aaron Williams.

Vanessa Bryant announces that Kobe will have three statues outside of the House that Kobe Built.

The Meaning of Kobe's logo

Kobe explained in an interview that his talent is the sword and his life experiences stand as the sheath. Some people say that the logo is a reference to the movie Kill Bill, a 2003 gory film about revenge directed by Quentin Tarantino.

The original mural, painted by L.A. street artist Rask Opticon, went up soon after the Jan. 26, 2020, helicopter crash that killed Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others.

Bryant's widow, Vanessa, said during the dedication ceremony that the statue is the first of three that will be created to honor the five-time NBA champion and top scorer in Lakers history.

In January 1994, Schanwald hired the husband-wife team of Omri and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany of Highland Park, Illinois, to design and create a statue of the then retired Bulls superstar which would stand forever at the entrance to the United Center, the Bulls' new home, which was set to open in August of that same year.

Lakers unveil 19-foot statue of Kobe Bryant

The 4,000-pound bronze statue depicts Kobe Bryant walking off the court following his iconic 81-point performance in 2006.