Kobe and Gianna Bryant tragically passed away on January 26th in a helicopter crash that claimed the lives of seven other people. The tragedy is still hard to make sense of as the families continue to mourn their lost loved ones. Today, the city of Los Angeles came together as a public memorial was held for Kobe and Gianna at the Staples Center. Numerous big names were at the event including Beyoncé, Shaq, Michael Jordan, Rob Pelinka, and many others. It was a beautiful celebration of two lives that were taken from us way too soon.
Today, LeBron James took to Instagram where he offered up a tribute of his own. In the post below, James shares the date, February 24th or 2/24. Of course, this date is significant because it combines Gianna and Kobe's jersey numbers. LeBron also added a purple and yellow heart to signify the colors of the Los Angeles Lakers.
LeBron James has been a leader on the Lakers this season and has helped his teammates deal with the death of a mentor. Kobe loved the Lakers organization and the players loved him back. While it must be difficult to continue on with the season, the players have handled it with dignity and grace.
As we head towards the playoffs, it looks like the Lakers are setting themselves up for a deep run that will surely make Kobe proud.