Earlier in February 2024, the Los Angeles Lakers immortalized the late but great Kobe Bryant with a statue outside the Crypto.com Center. It was a highly anticipated event celebrated by many, especially since the Black Mamba is widely considered the greatest Laker ever.
Over a month since the unveiling, though, fans have discovered a few embarrassing mistakes on the statue.
Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant Statue Mistakes
In a post shared by German basketball journalist André Voigt, he highlighted the errors that have been overlooked during the creation of the statue.
While none is about how the statue looked–although fans did have some issues with it when the sculpture was revealed to the public–they all remain head-scratching since they are mistakes that could have been avoidable.
Hm … Kobes Statue mit drei Fehlern? CalderSon, VoM Wafer, DeciCion? What? 😨 pic.twitter.com/5ea6zWuXJ7
— André „Dré“ Voigt (@drevoigt) March 10, 2024
The three mistakes are all spelling errors on the platform where the statue stands. One includes the box score from his iconic 81-point performance in which “Coach’s Decision” was spelled “Coach’s Decicion.” Two names have been misspelled as well, with Jose Calderon’s name written as “Jose Calderson” and Bryant’s former teammate Von Wafer written as “Vom Wafer.”
These are certainly unacceptable mistakes, especially since this is supposed to be a tribute for Bryant. And for a storied and huge organization like the Lakers, you would expect them to have at least double checked the mistakes before unveiling it.
What Will Los Angeles Lakers Do About the Kobe Bryant Statue?
Fortunately for the Los Angeles Lakers, the mistakes are easy to fix, and they have now vowed to address it after they were made aware of the situation.
In a statement shared by ESPN, a Lakers spokesperson said: “We have been aware of this for a few weeks and are already working to get it corrected soon.”
It remains to be seen when LA will actually be able to change those errors, but for now, fans can only wait.
The Purple and Gold have three statues planned for Kobe Bryant, so hopefully the other two will be meticulously checked before being unveiled for public viewing. This is the greatest Laker player we’re talking about, after all.
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