Over the weekend, a mural featuring the late Kobe Bryant and new Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic was seen in progress. Just days later, that mural has now been completed.
This Kobe and Luka mural is amazing.
— ESPN Los Angeles (@ESPNLosAngeles) February 17, 2025
📍: Carrera Cafe - 8251 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA
🎨: (artoon_art via IG) pic.twitter.com/Py0Sl8zdAE
The mural captures a moment between Doncic and Bryant during a Mavericks-Lakers game in 2019. Bryant was in attendance to watch his former team take on the Mavericks, and Doncic caught up with Bryant and embraced him after the game. As he was playing, Doncic noticed someone was trash-talking him in Slovenian, only to turn around and discover it was Bryant.
The following year, Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others were tragically killed during a helicopter crash. Five years after that horrific accident, Doncic was stunningly traded to the Lakers. Within weeks of the trade, there is a mural commemorating a special moment between Doncic and Bryant prior to Bryant's passing.
Doncic reflected on that interaction during his introductory press conference with the Lakers earlier this month. "Just for Kobe to know my name was amazing to me," Doncic said. "I just wish Kobe and Gigi were here to see this moment."
The mural is located at 8251 Melrose Ave in Los Angeles, CA and is one of hundreds of murals painted in honor of the former Lakers great.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Luka Doncic’s Finished Mural Alongside Kobe Bryant Is Pure LA.
