Kobe Bryant's monument will be unveiled outside the Los Angeles Lakers' arena on February 8th

On February 8, the Kobe Bryant statue outside the Los Angeles Lakers' downtown arena will be unveiled.

The fourth-leading scorer in NBA history and a cherished fixture of the team for 20 seasons, Bryant, will be honored in this way, the 17-time NBA champion Lakers said on Thursday. In January 2020, a helicopter catastrophe claimed the lives of Bryant and his daughter, Gianna.

After retiring in 2016, the Lakers claim that Bryant took part in the original planning of his statue. He is the seventh club employee and the sixth former Lakers player to get a monument in the "Star Plaza" outside the arena, the Lakers' home since 1999.

The 2/8/24 date of the reveal is significant because Gianna wore No. 2 while playing youth basketball, while Kobe wore Nos. 8 and 24 for each half of his Lakers career. The Bryants and seven other passengers were traveling in the same chopper when it crashed in Calabasas, California, during a basketball competition.

The statue of Bryant will stand among statues of other legendary Lakers players Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, and Chick Hearn. Along with champion boxer Oscar De La Hoya, Star Plaza also features sculptures of Los Angeles Kings players Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Dustin Brown, and Bob Miller.

In addition to the statue, which was created by artist Julie Rotblatt Amrany, the Lakers said they are planning "a series of physical tributes" to honor Bryant.