While the City of Los Angeles already declared Aug. 24 Kobe Bryant Day, city officials now want to rename a portion of Figueroa Street after the legendary Lakers player as well.
Councilmembers Herb Wesson and Curren Price have submitted a motion that would rename the stretch of Figueroa Street between Olympic and Martin Luther King Jr boulevards Kobe Bryant Boulevard.
“Kobe Bryant’s legacy is bigger than basketball,” Wesson said in a press release. “His #MambaMentality inspired all of us to be the best version of ourselves. #KobeBryantBlvd will be a reminder to every Angeleno young and old who drives down it that there is no obstacle too big and that with the Mamba mentality, anything is possible,”
The motion further instructs the city engineer to begin the process of changing the street’s name.
The Los Angeles City Council declared Aug. 24 Kobe Bryant Day in 2016 after he retired following two decades with the Lakers. Orange County followed suit earlier this week. The date refers to Bryant’s jersey numbers, 8 and 24.
Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were killed in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26. Since then, the city has filled with murals remembering the athlete, who would have turned 42 this past Sunday.