President Donald Trump announced a major honor Thursday for late NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
On Thursday afternoon, Trump held a reception at the White House honoring Black History Month. Legendary golfer Tiger Woods was in attendance, and during the ceremony, Trump revealed plans to build statues honoring several prominent Black figures in the National Garden of American Heroes. Bryant is one of the men who will be featured, along with Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali.
Multiple Black women will also be included, namely Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Billie Holliday, Coretta Scott King and Aretha Franklin.
“During Black History Month, we pay tribute to these heroes and so many others not simply because they’re Black heroes but also because they’re truly American heroes who inspire all of us,” Trump said.
President Trump announces Kobe Bryant will be honored in a statue garden among other American heroes at an event honoring Black History Month. pic.twitter.com/Vj9RWoA0VB
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 20, 2025
Trump’s announcement comes a little more than one month after the five-year anniversary of Bryant’s tragic death in a helicopter accident at the age of 41.
Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among the nine people who died in the crash in Calabasas, California on Jan. 26, 2020.
“Kobe Bryant, despite being one of the truly great basketball players of all time, was just getting started in life,” Trump said on social media later that day. “He loved his family so much, and had such strong passion for the future. The loss of his beautiful daughter, Gianna, makes this moment even more devastating. Melania and I send our warmest condolences to Vanessa and the wonderful Bryant family. May God be with you all!”
After his playing career ended, Bryant spoke out against Trump on social media in Sept. 2017, accusing him of creating “dissension and anger.”
Whether Trump was aware of this or not is unclear, but if he was, he apparently wasn’t too bothered by the criticism, having paid tribute to Bryant following his death and with today’s news.
Bryant has already been featured in multiple sculptures in Los Angeles honoring his life and legacy.
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