Mural above: On the north side of Beyond Productions on Jefferson Blvd. in Culver City.
This post is part of a media project called SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage. Pick a number, and consider the list of athletes attached to it. Who wore it best? Or, what’s the most compelling story linked to it? Any person, place or thing is in play with Southern California connections. Star power, transformational achievement, longevity, notoriety and quirkiness all factor in. Whatever leads to a lively discussion and interpretation.
The most obvious choices for No. 24:
Kobe Bryant: Los Angeles Lakers
Walter Alston: Los Angeles Dodgers
Freeman McNeil: UCLA football
Dwayne Polee: Manual Arts High basketball
The not-so-obvious choices for No. 24:
Marion Morrison: USC football
The most interesting story for No. 24:
Kobe Bryant: Los Angeles Lakers guard (2006-07 to 2015-16) who also wore No. 8 (1996-97 to 2005-06)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Los Angeles (Staples Center), Long Beach, Newport Beach, Thousand Oaks
Reference books on the subject:
“Mamba & Mambacita Forever,” by Vanessa Bryant, 2025
“Mad Game : The NBA Education of Kobe Bryant,” by Roland Lazenby, 1999
“Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant,” by Roland Lazenby, 2016
Below: The finished product.
Momba murals, we have come to call them, are brilliantly splashed across the sides of hotels, apartment complexes, auto-part dealers, pawn shops and abandoned warehouses.
Whatever happens to bring artistic inspiration. And a drive to finish it.
They provide varied interpretation, a longing for artists wanting to honor Kobe Bryant and, often, his daughter, Gianna as well.
They have become as much a part of the city’s artistic canvas as much as a place to stop and reflect, to ponder “what if” as well as what was. To channel something even more than our eyes can take in.
They have become a coping mechanism, first for the artists who deigned them as an expression of grief mixed with tribute. And then a relief for pedestrians or those who catch a glimpse in a car passing. They’re too large to miss, too important to ignore, too many to embrace perhaps without feeling overwhelmed.
One of Bryant hoisting an Academy Award, lined up against his NBA title trophies. Two of them at the world-famous Venice Beach near their outdoor courts. Another wearing a Dodgers’ No. 24 uniform and sharing space with Shohei Ohtani.
“Kobe and Gianna Bryant are everywhere in Los Angeles,” Vanessa Bryant writes in “Mamba & Mambacita Forever,” her 2025 book. “They watch over pickup games in Venice. They light up the interminable traffic on La Brea and take up an entire block in Elysian Valley; they hover Inglewood, Downey, Glendale and Hollywood. Their faces have become part of Los Angeles.”
They aren’t numbered and catalogued as if part of a unique L.A. County art gallery. They are free public art. No. 24, No. 8, No. 2. Those numbers matter most.
Websites dedicated to these works claim, as one called KobeMural.com says, they can verify nearly 350 renditions just in the greater Los Angeles area. There are more than 450 in the United State. Plus another 175 prominently are around the globe.
They are relentless. Like Kobe Bryant.
Continue reading “No. 24: Kobe Bryant”
