With ‘A Celebration of Life for Kobe and Gianna Bryant’ now in the past, the process of healing can really begin.
Bryant was beloved not only by fans of the Los Angeles Lakers, but everyone in the world of sports and many who were simply inspired by what he stood for.
His legacy will live on forever and many things will be done to remember him by for years to come. One thing that many will surely be asking for is a statue outside of Staples Center, which would have happened regardless and has even been spoken on by Lakers owner Jeanie Buss herself.
One of the athletes with a statue outside of Staples Center is Oscar De La Hoya. In a recent interview on Real 92.3, he spoke about calling Staples Center CEO Dan Beckerman and suggesting they take down his statue and replace it with one of Bryant:
“No doubt. I actually… no disrespect to anybody… I actually called Dan Beckerman, who’s the head of AEG, the CEO of the Staples Center and L.A. Live. I called him that night and I told him, ‘Dan, dude, take my statue down and put Kobe’s there or do something, you know?’ You know what I’m saying? It’s the least I can do.”
De La Hoya continued on about the importance of honoring Bryant moving forward:
“We have to honor Kobe forever. We can’t forget. Kobe did so much for LA. I will never forget the humility that he always shows. Every time I met him, every time we talked, he’s just humble.”
De La Hoya is one of 10 people with statues outside of Staples Center with Lisa Leslie set to join as the 11th person to be immortalized. Because of the tragic nature of his passing, there will no doubt be calls for Bryant’s statue to be pushed up to the front of the line, but there is no telling whether or not that will happen.
De La Hoya making that call is a great act, but also an unnecessary one as there is plenty of room around Staples Center to honor Bryant with his deserved statue.
The question now becomes which pose will be chosen to represent Bryant as there have been plenty of amazing moments that could easily represent him.