STORY BY BRANDON GUIJARRO
STAFF WRITER
PHOTO CREDIT THE EPOCH TIMES
On Sunday May 1st, Kobe and Gianna Bryant were honored with a new basketball court, “The Kobe and Gianna Dream Court” at Pearson Park in Anaheim, California.
The brand new court includes purple and gold tiles referencing the Los Angeles Lakers team with a white circle with the names Kobe and Gianna Bryant in it. It’s also surrounded by purple butterflies that appear at the center of the court.
The butterflies are another meaning of “Vanessa” and signifies moving from one life to the next.
A butterfly shaped mural with the faces of Kobe and Gigi is also located off to the side of the court, created by artist Brian Peterson.
Vanessa Bryant announced that the Mamba & Mambacita sports foundation and BodyArmor will be collaborating to renovate 10 courts across the U.S. that will be dedicated to Kobe and Gigi.
They will be located across the country in cities such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Phoenix, and Detroit.
“Dream Court” which was unveiled on Gigi’s birthday, is open for the public to play in as it has already drawn large crowds.
On the same day, Nike released the Kobe 6 Protro “Mambacita Sweet 16,” which honors Gigi Bryant on what would’ve been her 16th birthday.
The sneaker was released exclusively through the SNKRS app and sold out in less than two minutes. They were released for a retail price of $180 and are now being resold online for over $500.
NBA players have also honored Gigi during the playoffs by wearing the Mambacita sneakers on the court and arriving to the games wearing Mambacita tie-dye hoodies, a clothing line released by Vanessa Bryant with Dannijo.
