On the side of a gym in downtown Los Angeles, two figures with angelic wings – Kobe Bryant, who won five NBA titles with the Lakers, and his daughter Gianna – sit together in the clouds. It is depicted in Near one wing, the words “Do not touch this mural” are sprayed in faded white letters.
No one has. The mural's durability is a testament to the legacy of Bryant, who died along with Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash five years ago. According to one crowdsourced tally, there are more than 600 murals honoring Bryant around the world, the majority of them in Southern California.
One afternoon, as she waited for an Uber near the Heaven Mural, Hollywood's Keeley Black rattled off the locations of other Bryant murals she'd come across. One is located near Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. The other is in the Fairfax shopping district.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen them messed up either,” she said. “I think people really respect these murals.”
Before wildfires tore through Pacific Palisades and Altadena this month, before the pandemic and Hollywood strikes brought movie production to a screeching halt, it was Bryant's death that broke the hearts of Los Angeles people.
The artists who created part of the mural depict how Bryant captivated the public with both his “Mamba Mentality” work ethic, slashing drive to the basket, and fairway jump shot. It states that
“Painting a big mural is such a great feeling when you're done. You're literally painting something bigger than yourself,” says Kay, an artist who used a pizza parlor on the Venice Beach boardwalk as his large canvas. Luz said. She depicted Kobe, 41, and Gianna, 13, wearing basketball jerseys on a purple backsplash that echoed the Lakers' color scheme. “I feel like artists are giving the world a gift that says, 'This person is very important to me.'”
Bryant, who joined the NBA in 1996 and spent his entire 20-season career with the Lakers, was selected to the All-Star Game 18 times, won two Olympic gold medals and developed a signature shoe with Nike. He was admired by young athletes and helped promote the NBA to a global audience.
“You look at Kobe, there are always a few athletes who almost jump into the superhero world,” said Jonas Never, an artist who has worked on projects for several professional sports teams in Los Angeles.
During the 2015-16 season, Bryant's last professional NBA season, Never found the wall in a parking lot a few blocks from what was then known as Staples Center, where the Lakers played their home games. Ta. Without the property owner's permission, he began painting a mural commemorating Bryant's career. The final piece resembles a photo of Bryant pulling on a celebratory gold jersey during a playoff game, complete with the Lakers logo and the words “Los Angeles Culture.”
Within hours of Bryant's death in 2020, the alley was transformed into a memorial site. Crowds of grieving people descended on the area for several weeks, leaving flowers and candles near Never's mural. This place is still visited by tourists.
“I think the fact that it was already there, and the closeness of it, rather than chasing what happened, gave it some credibility.” Never said never. “LA is such a huge city, and it was really amazing to see everyone gathered in front of the mural across from Kobe.”
Other murals were inspired by Bryant's death. Louie Parsino, whose mural of angels in his gym is called Slow Motion on social media, wandered downtown looking for walls to paint on the cloudy morning in January when Bryant died. The gym owner was hesitant at first, but eventually gave Parsino permission. He then spent about two weeks creating depictions of Bryant and his daughter on a 6-foot ladder.
“I just wanted something biblical,” Parsino said. “It's like when you open up one Japan, an angel appears and Kobe is there.”
About three years later, the gym's landlord gave notice that the mural needed to be removed. The news generated public support to keep it intact, including an online petition with more than 90,000 signatures shared by Vanessa Bryant, Kobe's widow and Gianna's mother.
Video game publisher 2K, which produces the popular basketball series “NBA 2K,” made an undisclosed donation to keep the mural up for at least a year, but the artwork's future is uncertain. Vanessa Bryant and 2K declined to comment.
Parsino estimates he has created at least 40 murals of Bryant and recently completed one in Pasadena.
“It's just human nature,” Parsino said. “We want to put on our walls what we love and what we represent.”
