MANILA, Philippines — A bronze sculpture of the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gigi, was erected on the helicopter crash site. This is in honor of their second death anniversary.
The statue was sculpted by Dan Medina and it depicts Kobe and Gigi wearing basketball uniforms. It also portrays the father and daughter sharing a loving look as Gigi holds her dad’s hand. Medina transported the 73kg statue to the hillside all by himself.
“This is all on my own, no one asked me to do it,” Medina said. He was also at the site to greet fans who hiked all the way up to pay their respects.
Medina shared that he brought it up to create a healing process for all the fans. “You can come up here, and it is kind of emotional. The flowers, the jerseys, the hats blow away, and I think we need something more permanent.”
The statue’s steel pedestal also lists the name of all nine crash victims. It is also marked with Bryant’s notable quote, “Heroes come and go, but legends are forever.”