Thousands attend memorial for Kobe Bryant, daughter at Staples Center
Thousands expected to honor Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna at memorial service (Washington Post/YouTube)
February 24, 2020 - 9:17 am
Updated February 24, 2020 - 12:42 pm

Vanessa Bryant speaks during a celebration of life for her husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Jimmy Kimmel speaks during a celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Kobe Bryant's parents Joe and Pam Bryant arrive for a celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Vanessa Bryant speaks during a celebration of life for her husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Kobe Bryant with his wife, Vanessa, and daughter Gianna prepare to watch the final night of swimming at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Aug. 4, 2012. (Mark J. Terrill/AP, File)

Former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna watch during the U.S. national championships swimming meet in Irvine, Calif., July 26, 2018. (Chris Carlson/AP,File)

Former NBA player Michael Jordan cries while speaking during a celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Former NBA player Michael Jordan speaks during a celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Former Los Angeles Lakers watch during a celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Joe Bryant and former Los Angeles Lakers' Derek Fisher arrive for a celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Former Los Angeles Lakers' Magic Johnson hugs Pam Bryant mother of Kobe Bryant during a celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Alicia Keys performs during a celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Kobe Bryant's parents Joe and Pam Bryant arrive for a celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Los Angeles Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka speaks during a celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

LL Cool J, middle, watches during a celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Fans line up to get into the Staples Center to attend a public memorial for former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, in Los Angeles, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

Fans line up to get into the Staples Center to attend a public memorial for former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, in Los Angeles, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

Fans gather to pay their respects at a memorial for Kobe Bryant in front of Staples Center, prior to an NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers in Los Angeles, Jan. 31, 2020. (Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP, File)

Janel Alexander, 55, of Encino, poses next to a mural that features Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neil inside Staples Center in Los Angeles before a public memorial for Lakers legend Bryant and his daughter Gianna Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. Alexander said she wanted to attend the memorial to support Bryant's wife, Vanessa, so she could feel "the presence of love around her." (AP Photo/Stefanie Dazio)

Alyssa Quevedo and her husband Emmanuel take a selfie in front of a mural of Kobe Bryant near the Staples Center before a public memorial for former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, in Los Angeles, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

Fans carry posters of Kobe Bryant near the Staples Center before a public memorial for former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, in Los Angeles, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

Fans line up to enter the Staples Center before a public memorial for former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, in Los Angeles, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)

David Chen holds flowers bearing Lakers colors near the Staples Center before a public memorial for former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, in Los Angeles, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)

Alyssa Shapiro, 27, of Huntington Beach, and her father Rick Shapiro, 55, stand outside Staples Center in Los Angeles before a public memorial for Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. The family's love of the game — and Bryant's work in women's sports — prompted Alyssa to become a middle school girls' basketball coach. (AP Photo/Stefanie Dazio)

A fan holds a sign near the Staples Center before a public memorial for former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, in Los Angeles, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

From left, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, wife Vanessa and daughter Natalia Diamante Bryant are seen before a Connecticut-UCLA NCAA women's basketball game in Los Angeles, Nov. 21, 2017. (Reed Saxon/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES — Mourners gathered Monday in downtown Los Angeles to say farewell to Kobe and Gianna Bryant, arriving hours before the start of a sold-out memorial service for the basketball superstar and his 13-year-old daughter.
The service took place at the Staples Center, the downtown arena where Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers for 17 seasons of his two-decade NBA career. Bryant and his daughter were among nine people killed Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash.
The ceremony began with Beyonce performing her songs “XO” and “Halo” with dozens of backup musicians.
Among the early arriving fans was Alyssa Shapiro, 27, of Huntington Beach, who said she was inspired to become a basketball player after watching countless Lakers games with her father.
The family’s love of the game — and Bryant’s work in women’s sports — prompted her to become a middle school girls’ basketball coach. Her team had played Gianna’s team and she would watch Bryant cheer for his daughter in the stands.
Holding homemade heart-shaped “Kobe” and “Gigi” signs, she said she went up to Bryant to introduce herself at a game.
“I just wanted to thank him for being such an inspiration to me,” she said. “I grew up watching him on the screen. … It made me realize he’s more than just that guy out on the court.”
The concourse was a sea of people dressed in the team colors of purple and yellow and others in black. On the scoreboard, the Bryant family’s life flashes by in pictures: Bryant with his wife, Vanessa, Bryant and Gianna, the whole family in costumes, Gianna on the court, baby pictures of Gianna and her father.
Sea of purple, gold and black
The service began just hours after Vanessa Bryant sued the owner of the helicopter that crashed in the fog last month. The wrongful-death lawsuit claimed that the pilot, Ara Zobayan, was careless and negligent by flying in cloudy conditions.
At the arena, fans were given a program containing photos, a purple KB pin and a T-shirt with photos of the father and daughter. The concourse was a sea of purple, gold and black clothing.
Also in the crowd was Bob Melendez, 72, who has been a season ticket holder for 40 years. After seeing Bryant play for the Lakers for years — including at his retirement game — Melendez said he could not imagine missing the memorial.
He wore a black No. 24 jersey and Lakers jacket he bought for Bryant’s final game.
“I’d never dreamed I’d be wearing this” at Bryant’s memorial, he said.
Melendez was joined by friends Tom Ling and Rene Vega, who said his grandchildren and Bryant’s children attend the same school. Bryant called Vega “Grandpa.”
‘We didn’t want to believe it’
Ling, wearing a silver No. 8 jersey, said the news of Bryant’s death was initially too awful to accept.
“We didn’t want to believe it,” he said.
The service will feature speakers reflecting on Kobe Bryant’s impact on his sport and the world, along with music and retrospectives on Bryant’s on-court achievements. Bryant became active in film, television and writing after he retired from basketball in 2016.
Bryant’s family, dozens of sports greats and many major figures in Bryant’s public life were expected to attend.
Money from ticket sales was to be given to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, which supports youth sports programs in underserved communities and teaches sports to girls and women.
Vendors sold flowers, Lakers scarves and commemorative newspapers and jerseys. Buses drove up and down Figueroa Street with their signs lit up with “RIP KOBE.”
Business partners Donnell Dorsey and Ramon Acevedo slept along Figueroa Street on Sunday night to make sure they could claim a spot for their Lakers merchandise. Dorsey said he sold out of Bryant-related T-shirts and hats five times the day after the basketball superstar died.
On Monday, the duo sold framed photos and drawings of Bryant and Gianna for $5 apiece, T-shirts and hats for $15 each and medallions for $25.
Dorsey said a friend told him about Bryant’s death. “He was like, ‘He’s gone. Gone where?”
“I was, I guess you might say, numb,” Dorsey said.
20-year career with Lakers
Bryant played his entire 20-year NBA career with the Lakers, who moved from the Forum to Staples Center when it opened in 1999. The five-time NBA champion’s two retired jersey numbers — 8 and 24 — hang high above the arena where he became the third-leading scorer in league history until Lakers star LeBron James passed him on the night before Bryant’s death.
Bryant’s death caused an outpouring of grief across Los Angeles, where he remained the city’s most popular athlete into retirement. Dozens of public memorials and murals have been installed around the sprawling metropolis, and thousands of fans gathered daily outside Staples Center to commiserate after the crash.
Symbolic meanings will run throughout the ceremony, which will be held on a 24-foot-by-24-foot stage. Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s wife and Gianna’s mother, chose Feb. 24 as the date in honor of the uniform numbers of Kobe and Gianna, who wore No. 2 on her youth basketball teams.
A private funeral was held for Kobe and Gianna Bryant in Orange County on Feb. 7.
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