Los Angeles will have a public memorial for Kobe and Gianna Bryant, other seven victims of helicopter crash on 2/24

Two weeks ago, the world was shaken by the news that Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people had lost their lives in a plane crash in Calabasas. Since then, Lakers fans have gathered at places all throughout Los Angeles — most notably Staples Center — to pay their respects to Kobe, but there hasn’t been a proper memorial service for Kobe, Gianna, or the other victims of the crash yet.

That’s going to change soon.

According to a report by Richard Winton of the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, the city of Los Angeles will hold a memorial for all nine of the Calabasas helicopter crash victims at Staples Center on Feb. 24, or 2/24 — a tribute to the numbers Gianna and Kobe wore, respectively. Vanessa Bryant confirmed the report on Instagram on Friday.

The Lakers shared the flyer for the memorial on Twitter the same day.

An early report by TMZ suggested that the memorial might be held at the Los Angeles Coliseum due to fears that Staples Center wouldn’t be big enough to hold the thousands of Lakers fans that will want to say their final goodbyes to Bryant. Staples Center holds 20,000, while the Coliseum holds over 78,000.

That worry is still legitimate, but there’s a chance that Staples Center will find a way to accommodate the fans that won’t be able to get into the building. For example, the memorial can be shown on the giant screens that hover over L.A. Live, although it’s worth noting that Staples Center didn’t show the Lakers’ tribute to Bryant on those screens.

Expect more details about the memorial to come out within the next few weeks.

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