Kobe Bryant to have street named after him near Staples Center

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A street next to the Staples Center in Los Angeles will be named after Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.

President of the Los Angeles City Council Herb J. Wesson Jr. announced Monday that Figueroa Street between Olympic Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard will be renamed in honor of the five-time NBA champion.

Kobe Bryant Blvd and Chick Hearn Ct will intersect outside Staples Center, home of the LA Lakers, Yahoo reports.

“Championship parade after championship parade, Kobe Bryant led the procession down Figueroa St, from MLK to Olympic,” Wesson Jr. tweeted Monday. “After the @Lakers win this year, they will be marching down #KobeBryantBlvd.”

Figueroa St. will soon be Kobe Bryant Blvd. between Olympic & MLK.

Kobe’s legacy is bigger than basketball. #KobeBryantBlvd will be a reminder to everyone, young and old who drive down it, there is no obstacle too big and that with the #Mambamentality , anything is possible. pic.twitter.com/gvekIFOU5u

— Herb J. Wesson, Jr. (@HerbJWesson) August 24, 2020

News of the street renaming comes a day after Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, took to social media to pen a touching message on what would have been her late husband’s 49th birthday, theGRIO previously reported.

“To my baby – Happy birthday. I love you and miss you more than I can ever explain. I wish you and Gigi were here to celebrate YOU. I wish i could make your fav food or a birthday cake with my Gigi. I miss your big hugs, your kisses, your smile, your loud ass deep laugh. I miss teasing you, making you laugh and bursting your bubble. I miss you sitting on my lap like my big baby that you are. I think about your tenderness and patience all the time. I think about everything you would do in situations to help me deal with everything thrown my way,” said Vanessa in a post.

Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna and seven other passengers were killed in the Los Angeles area in January 2020 after their helicopter crashed.

Earlier this month, officials in Orange County declared August 24, the day after Bryant’s birthday, “Kobe Bryant Day.”

In related news, the Lakers wore “Black Mamba” uniforms to honor Bryant for their Aug. 24 game against the Portland Trail Blazers. The uniform also featured a special heart patch bearing the number 2 to honor Gianna, per NBA.com.

Gianna wore the number while forging her own path as a budding basketball player.

“This day and [Monday] where we’re going to wear the uniforms, it brings back a lot of the emotions of what happened,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said Sunday. “We’re all still very sad about his loss and Gigi’s loss. It’s just a tough thing for all of us to handle and to go through.”

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