*The marketing director of the basketball video game series NBA 2K said the company stepped in to save a prominent mural in Los Angeles showing late Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna.
“The popular mural of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, located at 400 W. Pico Blvd in downtown Los Angeles will be re-dedicated this week and stay up thanks to a pledge by NBA 2K,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
We reported previously that local artist Sloe Motions painted the mural on an outdoor wall at Hardcore Fitness on Pico Boulevard days after the NBA star and his 13-year-old daughter perished in a helicopter crash in Calabasas that killed seven others in 2020.
The owner of the gym, Cecilia Moran, is resisting her landlord’s order to remove the mural depicting both Kobe and Gianna among clouds with angel wings.
According to Moran, the building’s owner wants to advertise on the wall space.
“What he has notified me is, if I don’t remove the mural by Dec. 31 he’s going to be doing it and I’ll have to pay all the costs that involves,” Moran previously told ABC News 7.
Per the report, Moran said she’s “OK with that, because I refuse and I’m going to stand for what I believe. And what I believe is that’s not right…I don’t believe in destroying something that has so much impact on people.”
A Change.org petition was created in an effort to preserve the mural.
Kobe’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, shared the petition on her social media accounts along with the caption: “Please sign this petition to save this beautiful Kobe & Gianna Mural. Thank you.”
READ MORE: Vanessa Bryant Fights to Preserve Los Angeles Mural Honoring Kobe and Gianna | VIDEO
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