A sculpture of NBA great, Kobe Bryant, and his daughter, Gianna ‘Gigi’ Bryant, has been brought to the helicopter crash site where they perished alongside seven others on a hillside near Los Angeles two years ago.
The 160 pound bronze statue depicts the pair wearing basketball uniforms and sharing a loving glance as Gigi holds Kobe’s hand and it rests on her shoulder.
Dan Medina, the sculptor who made the statue, was on hand to greet fans who made the 1.3-mile hike to pay their respects to the sports legend. Kobe Kobe
“This is all on my own, no one asked me to do it. 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”.
Dan Medina
Medina, disclosed that the bronze is a smaller version of a large life-size sculpture he is creating.
Engraved on the statue’s steel pedestal are the names of all nine victims of the early morning crash in foggy weather on January 26, 2020. It also includes an inscription of Bryant’s famous quote: “Heroes come and go, but legends are forever”.
Nicole Szuch-Dinets a native of Woodland Hills was one of the dozens of fans who made the trip to pay their respects.
“I remember when this happened. We live close and we could hear the helicopter. And then it popped up on my phone and we didn’t believe it. So, I wanted to come out of respect and I think this statue is beautiful”.
Nicole Szuch-Dinets
Tributes to Bryant by his friends, fans, and former teammates poured out on social media.
“I know many of you are out there and you miss him and still wish to see his brilliance on the court, and what he was doing as a dad”, Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said of Bryant, who was the father of four girls and husband to Vanessa.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar further noted that it was wonderful the way Kobe was coaching girls and getting them into the game. He then concluded his tribute, saying: “I hope all of you out there remember him the way you should and give your prayers to his wife and family”.
A five-time NBA champion in his 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Bryant’s death at age 41 shocked the world of professional sports and sent his legion of fans into mourning. Gigi was 13 at the time of the crash, which occurred as they were headed to a youth basketball tournament.
The helicopter carrying Bryant and Gianna, along with some of her teammates, a few parents, and coaches, took off shortly after 9 a.m., on 26th January, 2020, from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, heading to Camarillo Airport for the second day of a weekend tournament at the Mamba Academy in nearby Thousand Oaks.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation determined that the pilot, Ara Zobayan’s decision to fly under visual flight rules in cloudy conditions resulted in his spatial disorientation and loss of control of the aircraft. Zobayan’s “likely” self-induced pressure to get Bryant to his destination and inadequate review of safety management procedures by the helicopter operator was found to have contributed to the crash.
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