LOS ANGELES — A statue of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant unveiled last month outside Crypto.com Arena has at least four errors on its base, the team said Monday.
The statue of Bryant, the Pro Basketball Hall of Famer who was killed in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020, was placed outside the arena on Feb. 8, The Athletic reported. The 19-foot bronze statue of Bryant was one of three commissioned by his widow, Vanessa Bryant, according to ESPN.
It statue’s unveiling date honored Bryant’s No. 8 jersey, USA Today reported.
Kobe Bryant's statue outside of Crypto Arena has multiple misspellings on it.
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) March 11, 2024
- Jose Calderon's name
- Von Wafer's name
- The term "coach's decision"
📸: @drevoigt pic.twitter.com/wq4A1yBYM9
The errors include the misspellings of Jose Calderon’s and Von Wafer’s names, which were included in a replica box score from Bryant’s 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006, the cable sports outlet reported. Bryant’s point total was second only to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on March 2, 1962.
Von Wafer’s name is misspelled as “Vom Wafer,” and Calderon’s name is chiseled into the base as “Jose Calderson,” according to The Athletic.
There was also a formatting mistake on another side of the statue’s base, ESPN reported. The word “decision” is misspelled twice in “Coach’s Decision” as “decicion,” according to The Athletic.
“We have been aware of this for a few weeks and are already working to get it corrected soon,” a Lakers spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN.
The mistakes went viral after a tweet by German basketball journalist André Voigt showed photos of the errors, the sports outlet reported.
Hm … Kobes Statue mit drei Fehlern? CalderSon, VoM Wafer, DeciCion? What? 😨 pic.twitter.com/5ea6zWuXJ7
— André „Dré“ Voigt (@drevoigt) March 10, 2024
The sculpture was made by the Illinois-based couple Omri Amrany and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany, according to The Athletic. The pair designed and created all of the statues outside Crypto.com Arena, the sports outlet reported.
They include statues of Laker legends Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Chick Hearn and Shaquille O’Neal.
They were unavailable for comment, The Athletic reported.
The planned location and the unveiling date for the other two statues -- one of Bryant in his No. 24 uniform and the other with his daughter, Gianna, who also died in the crash, along with seven others -- are yet to be determined, a Lakers spokesperson, told ESPN.
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