Kobe and Gianna Bryant Will Be Memorialized Today in Special Service at Staples Center
Thousands will gather at Staples Center on Monday to honor the man they called the Black Mamba.
Kobe Bryant, his daughter, 13-year-old Gianna Bryant, and seven others who died in a Jan. 26 helicopter crash are being honored in a celebration of life at Los Angeles’ Staples Center.
The event was organized, in part, by Kobe’s longtime NBA team, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Monday’s date holds special significance for the Bryant family: Gianna wore jersey No. 2 at the Mamba Sports Academy, and Kobe wore No. 24 in the latter half of his career.
20 — as in the year 2020 — marks his time as a Laker and the length of his relationship with his wife Vanessa Bryant, with whom he shares 4 children, including Gianna.
The public memorial will begin at 10 a.m. PST, or 1 p.m. EST, and can also be streamed on NBA TV’s website. It will also be streamed live on the Lakers’ YouTube channel.
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A limited number of tickets for the memorial were sold, and ranged in price from $24.02 to $224. The prices, of course, also incorporate Kobe and Gianna’s jersey numbers.
Proceeds from the ticket sales are being donated to the Bryant family’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation.