Lakers unveil Bryant statue
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a statue of Kobe Bryant on Thursday, honoring their late superstar with a 19-foot bronze likeness outside their downtown arena.
The 4,000-pound statue depicts Bryant in his white No. 8 jersey with his right index finger raised as he walked off the court following his 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006.
Bryant's widow, Vanessa, said during the dedication ceremony that the statue is the first of three that will be created to honor the five-time NBA champion and top scorer in Lakers history. Another statue will feature Bryant in his No. 24 jersey, which he wore for the second half of his career, while a third will depict Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, who died with him and seven others in a helicopter crash in January 2020.
“This statue may look like Kobe, but really it's what excellence looks like,” Kareem Abduljabbar said. “What discipline looks like. What commitment looks like . ... It captures a person frozen in time, while at the same time acknowledges that the reason there is a statue in the first place is because that person is timeless. We're all here today to honor a man who represents not just extraordinary sports achievement, but also timeless values that inspire us all to try harder to be not just better, but our best.”
The first statue was unveiled at a ceremony attended by dozens of Lakers greats and hundreds of season ticket holders. Vanessa Bryant spoke at the ceremony after remarks from team owner Jeanie Buss, former teammate Derek Fisher, Abdul-jabbar and longtime Lakers coach Phil Jackson.
“I think of Kobe constantly, and I miss him and Gigi more than words can say,” Buss said. “But today, I'm filled with joy because in the future, I know fans will gather here in the shade of this statue beside this building where Kobe gave us so many memories, and we will share what he meant to us. As we do so, we will motivate a new generation to emulate the Mamba Mentality.”
Bryant retired in 2016 after a 20-year career spent entirely with the Lakers. He is the fourthleading scorer in NBA history with 33,643 points, and his accolades included 18 NBA All-star selections and two NBA Finals MVP awards.
Heat’s Highsmith ‘shaken’ by crash
The agent for Haywood Highsmith said Thursday night that the Miami Heat forward is “shaken” after being involved in a late-night accident where he crashed into a man who was trying to assist the driver of another disabled vehicle.
The injured man, police said, needed a partial amputation of a leg and had other fractures and possible fractures. It was about 11:20 p.m. local time Tuesday when the injured man was trying to push the disabled vehicle — which did not have lights on — out of the way of traffic when Highsmith drove into him, police said.
Highsmith was ticketed for careless driving, police said.
Police said Highsmith was traveling at about 45 mph in a 40 mph zone. Police said Highsmith was not under the influence of any drugs or alcohol and was uninjured.
Anunoby has elbow surgery
OG Anunoby has undergone right elbow surgery and will miss at least three weeks, leaving the New York Knicks without their entire starting frontcourt through the All-star break.
The Knicks said Thursday that Anunoby had a loose bone fragment removed from his elbow in the procedure. They didn't say when it was performed and coach Tom Thibodeau said he didn't know.
Anunoby has missed the last six games with what the team originally called right elbow inflammation before changing it to bone spur inflammation in their injury report for their game Thursday against Dallas.
“We tried to approach it with rest first and then you trust the medical, you trust him and this was the best course of action,” Thibodeau said. “And we're optimistic that it rolls into the Allstar break, so it seemed to make the most sense to all of us.”