Statue of Kobe, Gigi Bryant Won’t Be Permanent at Crash Site, Says City of Calabasas

AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu

Government officials in California said
there are no plans for a permanent memorial dedicated to Los Angeles
Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the seven other
victims at the site of a helicopter crash in January 2020.

The City of Calabasas confirmed to TMZ
Sports there are “no plans for any sort of memorial at the crash
site,” a stance also held by the Mountains Recreation and
Conservation Authority, which controls the land where the crash took
place.

Questions were raised about the future
of the site after artist Dan Medina brought a 160-pound bronze statue
to the area on Wednesday, the second anniversary of the tragedy.

Medina told Richard Winton of the Los
Angeles Times he only planned to display the statue from sunrise to
sunset, with hope a larger version would eventually find a more permanent home.

“I kind of want to follow the law,
respect the locals, respect the Santa Monica Mountains,” he said.

Medina added it was “kind of
emotional” to see the statue surrounded by other items brought by
fans.

“The flowers, the jerseys, the hats
blow away, and I think we need something more permanent,” he told
Winton.

Bryant became one of the most
well-known athletes in the world during a 20-year career with the
Lakers that included five NBA championships and two Olympic gold
medals as part of Team USA.

The Philadelphia native, who died at
the age of 41, was posthumously inducted in the Naismith Memorial
Basketball Hall of Fame in May.