Time and again, the 20-year Los Angeles Lakers legacy left behind by Kobe Bryant is honored. Since his tragic demise in 2020, tributes including his late daughter, Gianna Bryan have popped up. One example of the iconic courtside moments of Kobe and Gigi is installed outside Crypto.com Arena’s 11th Street entrance. A similar but intriguing tribute that a muralist followed by Vanessa-Bryant shared on social media now calls for attention again.

It comes from the account Hoops on X, which reshared a mural posted on the Instagram account ‘Tehrell_Porter_Designs’. The mural features a life-like ‘Mambacita‘ with wavy hair. Wonder what’s hidden within this stunning Gigi art? 

“New Gigi Bryant mural. Look closely at her hair😳,” the video’s caption hints. Netizens follow the cue, and a closer look at the mural reveals the Black Mamba crafted by Gigi’s wavy hair. This brings back memories of Vanessa’s talk at the father-daughter statue honoring ceremony by the Lakers: “Kobe was the ultimate Girl Dad and Gigi was the ultimate Daddy’s girl.”

Originally done by Tehrell Porter, an artist with 43.4k followers on Instagram, including Vanessa Bryant, the work was first shared on Instagram in 2023. His post had this question tagged along: “Who can find Kobe’s face on this Mural? 🤫💜💛💜💛🌹” while marking the significance of 8/24. The caption read: “When you find Kobe drop a 💜💛🌹#mamba#mambaforever #mambamentality #mambaforever #mambaday #2 #8#24″. By now, you might be questioning the larger significance of this pair for artistic inspiration. 

The 5x NBA champion and his athlete seed following his path demonstrated support for kids, especially girls, to pursue their dreams. Vanessa continues this cause through the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, which addresses communities lacking sporting opportunities.

The Crypto.com arena statue with the former Lakers Shooting Guard kissing Gigi’s forehead while wearing a WNBA orange hoodie is the perfect art representing this purpose. The likes of Porter’s murals across LA and the world thus stand for the larger-than-life persona of Kobe Bryant influencing art and thereby influencing society. That’s exactly what Porter’s pieces represent.

Artworks that immortalize Kobe

Remember Vanessa sharing this young girl’s picture wearing Gigi’s Jersey while standing in front of her mural? This was around June 2023, a month into Kobe Day. This was from an IG handle named mywnbajourney and came with a caption: “🖤🧡🖤🧡🖤🧡.” This highlights how the Purple and Gold Flower’s legend’s cause lives on. Interestingly, this mural is also designed by Porter. 

The year 2024 also saw some mural works around the death anniversary of Bryant and Gigi along with seven others in a helicopter crash. The one from Dana Point, California which also includes Michael Jordan stands out here. Here, the legend is seen making a superstar dunk while his daughter looks at him with awe. Thus it paints the 2x NBA scoring champion as a role model-like figure while his personal role model being MJ.

However, the 2020 murals triggered by the tragic news could be more in numbers with artists finding a fervor to honor the legend. The Mid City neighborhood work by Jules Muck inspired by the 18X All-Stars popular Instagram post is one peculiar work. With the banner “Kobe & Gigi Forever Daddy’s Girl,” it invoked fan emotions.

Another emotionally connecting work could be the Louie Palsino painting from Downtown LA. It presents Lakers No. 24 with his daughter as angels with wings. “People came and were crying and I sat there and talked with ’em and I shared the pain with them,” said Palsino as per ESPN reports. This feeling was reflected beyond borders such as in the Tenement housing complex in Taguig, Philippines where a group of artists painted the duo on their basketball court.

With the resurfacing of Porter’s mural this time, its purpose, whether it is driven by a noble cause or emotion, will continue to immortalize the legend.