The Los Angeles Lakers pulled off a double play—honoring their fallen legend, Kobe Bryant, with a permanent tribute and making even the toughest NFL quarterback shed a tear.

Here’s the scoop: The Lakers’ official IG handle dropped a powerful pic of the newly unveiled statue featuring Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, captioning, “8.2.24: Kobe and Gigi forever immortalized.” Vanessa Bryant, along with their daughters, Natalie Diamante, Bianka Bella, and Capri Kobe, sat at the base of the statue in white clothes and heartwarming smiles. This touching scene resonated with fans everywhere, including the Steelers’ new QB. 

Russell Wilson couldn’t choke back his emotions. The father of three re-shared the Lakers’ post on his Instagram story, captioning it, “This is so so beautiful! Proud of you sis,” tagging Vanessa’s IG account. This isn’t the first time Wilson’s shown he’s all-in for the Bryant family.

Back in Feb, the Lakers’ Crypto.com Arena threw a huge event to unveil a bronze statue of the NBA legend. Vanessa, their daughters, and a lineup of basketball royalty turned up for the star-studded occasion. She gave a deeply emotional speech that overflowed with her love for Kobe and Gianna. 

“Kobe has supporters all over the world,” she said, her voice trembling. “This isn’t just for him, it’s for all of you who cheered him on all these years.” She closed with a bit of Kobe’s signature swagger: “And for the record, Kobe picked the pose you’re about to see, so if anyone has issues with it, tough s–t!”

The statue outside the Lakers’ complex is pure power. Kobe’s jersey numbers, 8 and 24, are set in bronze—a timeless salute to his court dominance. Gianna’s number 2 is subtly included too, a nod to her bright basketball future that was cut short. 

With ex-Lakers like Magic Johnson and Lamar Odom, Pittsburgh’s star QB Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara also showed up to pay their heartfelt tribute.

Wilson pays respects to Kobe Bryant at statue unveiling with wife Ciara 

Steelers’ star QB Wilson and singer Ciara attended the Lakers’ statue unveiling ceremony in Feb. The couple’s presence added a touch of NFL star power to the event.

Wilson’s been pretty straight-up about his admiration for Kobe. After the heartbreaking helicopter crash that took Kobe and Gianna in 2020, Wilson honored the Black Mamba by wearing his jersey after the Seahawks clinched the NFC West in Dec. of that year. 

The 35-year-old also posted a heartfelt video on IG, captioning, “Kobs, you were an inspiration to me growing up. I always watched how you did everything with grace and how you always worked hard at everything. You helped me with my NFL career.”

Seeing Wilson at the statue unveiling just goes to show how deep Kobe and Gigi’s impact really goes. It was a powerful moment that proved these two sports icons crossed over into every corner of the world.