Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty
It’s been six months since Kobe Bryant tragically passed away in a tragic helicopter accident alongside his daughter and seven other victims. Still, the sports world is making sure he’s never forgotten.
For the past few months, murals have been popping up around the world –on everything from sides of brick buildings to basketball courts– of the Laker great. The sprawling paintings weren’t just done in Los Angeles but many other cities, so it became hard to track them all down. But marketer and social media consultant Mike Asner wanted everyone to see the tributes or at least know how much Bryant’s influence was felt, so he decided to put together an interactive map to showcase them all.
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“Like many Southern Californians, after the passing of Kobe Bryant, Gianna Bryant and seven other victims, I was devastated by the news,” Asner told VoyageLA. “Several days after the incident, I noticed murals going up throughout LA and photos of them on Instagram. I identified quickly that these should be organized for the families, fans and visitors with specific mural locations and promotion of all artists.”
With the invention of the KobeMural Instagram page, all of the murals– including ones of him alongside daughter Gianna, Dwyane Wade or side by side with fellow West Coast legend Nipsey Hussle— have been tracked. What started as just 30 murals has grown to a reported 305 with 200 paintings in the Laker-town of Southern California, a total of 255 in the United States, and 50 others around the globe.
Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty
You can peep the entire interactive map at KobeMural.com to see if there’s one near you or others you’d travel to get a flick with. The site also has a page dedicated to the Mamba on Three Fund, which aims to “honor and support loved ones of the seven other victims involved in the tragedy that occurred on January 26, 2020. All donations to the Fund will be directed to their families,” which includes Alyssa Altobelli, John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Payton Chester, Sarah Chester, Christina Mauser, and Ara Zobayan.
Other than the cluster in Cali, there’s also over 50 in New York alone and even a few in the city of the Lakers’ biggest rivals, Boston. You can check out a guide to each city’s mural collection here.
Long live the Black Mamba.
