The Lakers messed up Kobe Bryant’s statue and have to fix it now
On Monday, misspellings on the Kobe Bryant statue were publicly discovered and the Lakers plan to remedy them as soon as possible.
When the Lakers revealed Kobe Bryant’s statue on Feb. 8, 2024, the reception was positive and emotional on a day mixed with celebration and sorrow. The statue is now on full display outside of Crytpo.Com Arena and has fans surrounding it 24/7 since it’s been available to the public.
On Monday, German basketball journalist André Voigt went on Twitter to share the errors he discovered on the statue. The errors include Jose Calderon’s and Von Wafer’s names being misspelled in the replica box score from Bryant’s 81-point game between the Lakers and Toronto Raptors, along with a formatting mistake on another side of the base where Bryant’s career accomplishments are listed.
Hm … Kobes Statue mit drei Fehlern? CalderSon, VoM Wafer, DeciCion? What? pic.twitter.com/5ea6zWuXJ7
— André „Dré“ Voigt (@drevoigt) March 10, 2024
Dave McMenamin of ESPN confirmed from a Lakers spokesperson that the organization has been aware of the errors for weeks and intends to fix them.
Color me skeptical that they were aware before this tweet.
If they were aware, then when? Was it when it was revealed over a month ago and more people saw it? It was approved, so I assume it was thoroughly checked. So, if they did find out after the unveiling, why didn’t they say something?
Coming out and acknowledging the error first makes sense, as you can’t secretly fix it. I don’t know the nuance of fixing such a thing on a statue, but I’m guessing it will take some time and be unavailable to the public while it’s being fixed. What was their plan for that? They’d have to reveal the issue at that point.
Also, how does something like this not get spotted before it’s unveiled? Surely, multiple people looked at the statue and the details before it was unveiled, but no one thought to proofread the box score? It’s not like there’s just one error, either. Three different mistakes were made!
This mistake is embarrassing and puts a damper on a wonderful statue and tribute to the Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. This ain’t Mamba.
The good news is that it sounds like this will get fixed. I’m certain they’ll do more fact-checking on the other two upcoming statues they have for Kobe Bryant, as this just makes the team and organization look bad.
I know it’s a mom-and-pop run team, but come on, hire an editor (Editor’s note: I volunteer as tribute!).
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.