On February 8, 2024, the Lakers unveiled a statue of Kobe Bryant outside of the Crypto.com Arena, showcasing Kobe’s gesture after his 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors. The long overdue statue was inaugurated through a private ceremony. Though the statue seemed perfect to onlookers from a distance, fans on Reddit have started finding some distinct blemishes on its carvings.
Advertisement
A Reddit user named u/piizzzzaaaaa recently highlighted in a post on the r/nba subreddit how the statue makers had misspelled Jose Calderon’s name on the box score of the 81-point game as Jose Calderson. They also made other mistakes like writing ‘Von Wafer”s name as ‘Vom Wafer’ and ‘Coach’s Decision’ as ‘Coach’s Decicion’ despite spelling the word correctly directly above.
The Redditors seem surprised, amused, and disappointed at the same time while reacting to these unbelievable blemishes on Bryant’s statue. One user called out the management for not bothering enough to double-check before the unveiling, thus showing how much they cared about the fans’ sentiments. “Did no one at the top even bother to look at this before the unveiling? Really shows how much they care, sheesh,” DocCharlesXavier wrote.
Another fan hilariously joked about the sculptors being close to misspelling Kobe Bryant’s name as ‘Colby Bryant.’
Few users tried contrasting the situation for the Lakers front office, claiming that the franchise could have seen its eventual downfall if it were a small market team, such as the Charlotte Hornets. Some have used the example of Mitch Kupchak moving from LA to Charlotte to rest their case.
The discussion on these evident flaws in Kobe’s statue continued on Twitter (now X). Fans from Germany uploaded images of these blemishes on their pages, with many reacting with amusement or disappointment to these painfully irrational mistakes.
All in all, it seems like the fans want the Lakers management to take note of these mistakes, which perhaps they can possibly fix. After all, if the management decided to include the players’ names on the box scores, they should have put some respect on their names by at least spelling them correctly.
Kobe Bryant’s fans were not allowed in the unveiling ceremony of his statue
The unveiling of Kobe Bryant’s statue outside the Crypto.com Arena was one of the most awaited moments for Lakers and Kobe Bryant’s fans. The 19-ft, 4,000lb statue features Bryant in his white No.8 Lakers jersey, with his right index finger raised as he walked off the court after dropping 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in January, 2006. Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, presided over the ceremony and revealed that this statue would be the first of three created to honor the legacy of the 5x NBA champion and the Lakers’ top scorer.
Unfortunately, they were dismayed as they were shut out of the statue unveiling ceremony on February 8, 2024. Several of them waiting outside were disappointed to learn that the ceremony was private. The fans expressed their disappointment and told Reuters that leaving the public, who elevated Bryant to his legendary status, out of such an important ceremony was extremely unnecessary.
For many fans, Kobe Bryant was equivalent to their family. Missing out on the statue unveiling ceremony felt hurtful to many fans.
