Jeanie Buss Reveals Kobe Bryant and Daughter Gigi’s Statue Unveiling Serves a Heartfelt Motive

The Lakers revealed another one of Kobe Bryant‘s statues and Jeannie Buss couldn’t be any happier as a basketball daughter. The franchise is celebrating Kobe Bryant’s legacy by unveiling the Black Mamba and Gigi Bryant’s statue outside of Crypto Arena. Earlier known as the Staples Center, the arena had also gained popularity by the name of The House that Kobe Built. The LA Lakers‘ owner, Jeannie Buss, who was also present at the occasion, spoke to the ‘Spectrum Sports Net’ about the special moment.

Calling this moment a deeply personal one, Buss also stated this as an opportunity for everyone to take a moment and reflect on why the father-daughter duo was so important to the sports community. “And I couldn’t be happier with how the statue has turned out,” she added.

Speaking of Gianna being a part of the statue, Buss highlighted how Kobe Bryant, with his Girl Dad movement, changed the relationship the fathers and daughters shared in terms of sports. “And, of course, Gianna being a student of the game really inspired him to continue to feed her. You know, competitiveness,” she said.

The Lakers owner also reflected upon how her own father always empowered her and fed her to be confident. She believes this statue of the Black Mamba and Gigi invokes a similar message to people when they visit. The 62-year-old wants the fans to be reflective of why this statue is so important when they visit. “… We’ve got many great statues here of great players like Magic Johnson. And Jerry west and Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Elgin Baylor. But this is a different moment,” she added.

Notably, this is the second of the three statues that the Lakers will dedicate to the 5x NBA champ. The franchise unveiled the first statue — a 19-foot bronze memorial to Bryant’s 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors — on February 8, this year itself. Interestingly, though, the dates of both unveilings (02/08/24 and 08/02/24) represent Bryant’s jersey numbers, 8 and 24, and Gigi’s jersey number 2.

More about Kobe Bryant and Gigi’s recently unveiled bronze statue

As for the inspiration behind the statue, Vanessa Bryant earlier stated it’s based on merging two courtside moments of Kobe and Gigi. An instance when the 5x NBA champ was spotted wearing a WNBA hoodie to a game with Gigi. “Kobe was the first NBA player to wear that orange hoodie to a big game. And that was to show his support for Gigi’s dreams and for women across all sports,” Vanessa said.

There is also a plaque placed right in front of the statue that reads — ‘Gianna Bryant, Inspirational Icon for Girls in Sports’, and ‘Kobe Bryant, Proud Supporter of Women in Sports’. Apart from this, the plaque also features a quote from the ‘Most Valuable Girl Dad — “Gianna is a beast. She’s better than I was at her age. She’s got it. Girls are amazing. I would have five more girls if I could. I’m a girl dad.” 

All-in-all, while the 5x NBA champ’s first statue celebrates his legacy as a player, this recent one celebrates him as a girl dad and promoter of women in sports. This makes it clear why Jeannie Buss would take such pride in this statue.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.