Kobe Bryant and Daughter Gianna Honored With Moving “Girl Dad” Statue
Kobe Bryant and Gianna “Gigi” Bryant‘s father-daughter relationship has been immortalized at the home of the Los Angeles Lakers.
A bronze statue of the late NBA legend and the 13-year-old was recently installed outside Crypto.com Arena. The sculpture, the second of Kobe that was placed at the venue this year, “represents Kobe and Gianna’s exceptional basketball legacy and the uplifting relationship Kobe shared with all four of his daughters,” the NBA said in a statement Aug. 2.
“Kobe was the ultimate Girl Dad,” Vanessa told a small group of friends and family at the unveiling, according to the basketball league, “and Gigi was the ultimate Daddy’s girl.”
The two were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash on a hill in Calabasas, Calif. Kobe, 41, and Gianna are survived by Vanessa and the couple’s daughters Natalia, now 21, Bianka, 7, and Capri, 5.
Karon Davis designed the statue, which was created by the artists of Rotblatt Amrany Studio. The sculpture depicts Kobe with his arm around Gianna and angel wings behind them, with purple and yellow flowers—the Lakers’ team colors—planted around it.
