02/06/2020 - 19:10
- Clarín.com
- sports
After much deliberation, the date and place for the funeral of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the other seven occupants of the helicopter that crashed in Calabasas, California, was confirmed on Sunday morning January 26 in the accident that ended with their lives. It will be on February 24 (24/2, just the numbers used by the former basketball player and his daughter), at the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Lakers stadium.
The precinct of the franchise for which Bryant played during his 20-year career had been the first to enter into consideration but then, in the face of so many popular demonstrations, he seemed to lose ground because he gave the impression that they would not reach their 20,000 seats.
Grammy tribute to Nipsey Hussle, who died in 2019, and Kobe Bryant. The basketball player will have his public funeral in the same place as the rapper: the Staples Center. Photo: AFP
Then, the possibility of doing so in the Colosseum, a building with capacity for 78 thousand people, had emerged.
However, the ceremony will be held at the Staples. Perhaps it has weighed the fact that it is a place that was already used for mass funerals, such as that of Michael Jackson in 2009 - considered one of the most popular in history - and rapper Nipsey Hussle in April last year.
The funeral of Michael Jackson at the Staples Center, in 2009. Photo: AP
There are still no details about how tickets will be offered, which in the case of the King of Pop, for example, were 17,500 that were delivered free of charge after a raffle among millions of people who signed up online.
Bryant, 41, died due to the impact of crashing the helicopter of his property where he was traveling with his daughter Gianna, 13. Next to them were coach Christina Mauser; Alyssa, John and Keri Altobelli (companion of Gigi and her parents), Sarah and Payton Chester (companion of Kobe's daughter and her mother) and the pilot, Ara Zobayan.
