A sculpture of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant has been unveiled at the site where they died in a helicopter crash two years ago.
In January 2020, the NBA player and his 13-year-old daughter were among nine people who died in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area of Calabasas in California.
The sculpture, which is a 73-kg bronze statue, depicts the pair wearing basketball kits and sharing a loving glance as Kobe’s hand rests on Gigi’s shoulder.
View this post on Instagram
The statue was created by sculptor Dan Medina, who unveiled it on the second anniversary of the helicopter crash.
Dan said: “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.”
According to TMZ Sports, the sculpture only remained at the site for the day, but he hopes the city will allow him to erect a permanent tribute to Kobe and Gigi in the future.
Dan also revealed he’s working on a life size version of the same statue, which he said is 90% complete.
View this post on Instagram
The names of all nine victims of the crash are engraved on the sculpture, alongside Kobe’s famous quote: “Heroes come and go, but legends are forever.”
The group were on their way to a teen basketball tournament near Thousand Oaks, California on January 26, 2020 when their private helicopter crashed.
Alongside Gianna, Kobe and his wife Vanessa Bryant shared three other daughters – Natalia, 19, Bianka, 5, and Capri, 2.