A mural depicting the late Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna has been vandalized for the second time in a span of a month.

The mural, located in Downtown Los Angeles, was tagged with white spray paint after it was restored to its pre-vandalized state on Friday, May 30, according to KNBC-TV.

The “Mambas Forever” mural on Main and 14th Street by Los Angeles-based artist Sloe Motions was first vandalized in April.

The artist, whose real name is Louie Palsino, told the news station that he will now work to move the installation to another location.

“Everything happens for a reason and we now want to reach out and get this piece done in collaboration with another business or foundation, all donated by us and no charge to the new location,” Palsino said in a statement. “The project will be better than the last with a proper wall, whether indoor or outdoor, for our community and people to appreciate.”

The artwork depicts Kobe in his Lakers uniform kissing his daughter Gigi, who holds a basketball. The words "Mambas Forever" are written next to them.

Shortly after the mural was initially vandalized, Palsino established a GoFundMe to help with restoration — and Lakers star Luka Dončić promptly donated the entire $5,000 goal.

"Kobe is L.A. He and Gigi mean so much to this city, to the Lakers organization and to me personally," Dončić said in a statement at the time. "I'm happy to do anything to help make sure he and his daughter are honored."

For Palsino, the incidents are not only marring his own tribute to the basketball icon, but also he fears they are affecting Bryant’s legacy, he told CBS affiliate KCAL-TV.

"We didn't want that disrespect to L.A. right here, and for people to see that, especially Vanessa," he said. "Kobe has brought nothing but light and insight and inspiration to the youth."

Source: https://people.com/kobe-bryant-gigi-bryant-mural-vandalized-second-time-in-month-11748065

27 comments

  1. Depending on if you call a 19 year old “youth” then Kobe did a hell of alot more than bring lright or Inspiration

  2. As far as basketball goes, Kobe is my 2nd favourite of all time. But can we PLEASE stop making him seem like a saint? By all accounts, he was a shit fucking person. You can acknowledge his skill and contribution to basketball without saying stuff that makes him look like an angel.

  7. They also defaced his mural in Denver

    Google Kobe Bryant Colorado for more detail

  8. Unforunately if you are painting outdoors in DTLA, you will not have museum-level security to guard the work of art.

  10. >Kobe has brought nothing but light and insight and inspiration to the youth.

    [Yeah he sure did…](https://www.newsweek.com/kobe-court-138547) Like getting banned from a high school while being 21 years old for dating a student.

    >Soon, Bryant was picking up Laine at school in his black Mercedes and dropping her off in the mornings. (The teenager was living with her stepgrandfather at the time and had lots of freedom.) When TV news crews got wind of the romance, they regularly began flying helicopters over the Marina High campus in Huntington Beach, Calif., to get shots of the couple. The courtship caused such a stir that school authorities banned Bryant from coming near campus or attending any school events with her. Marina High officials declined to discuss the matter. “It just set this bad example for the school and the kids, but Kobe didn’t understand what the message was when he dropped her off early in the morning,” says his friend Tonahill. Bryant’s eventual answer to the problem was to pay for Vanessa to be home-schooled.

    >

    >Bryant’s family, who watched as Kobe became “unnaturally attached” to Vanessa, as one family friend put it. When Tonahill asked Kobe what he saw in the 16-year-old, he responded, “She’s pure, and innocent, and not jaded by the world.”

  11. What is with the virtue signaling for Vanessa.

    Wasn’t she supposed to make kobes widely available so kids could get them?

  14. I’m not a Kobe stan by any means. Just really confused why people are now being vocal about his sexual assault case. Why is this now a thing 5 years after his death??

  16. Since the whole comment section is about it anyways – is there any actual consensus on whether he probably did or didn’t do it? I genuinely don’t know, everything I’ve ever seen about it is just reddit comment sensationalism one way or the other.

  19. The late 2000’s was the perfect storm for Kobe, he had repaired his image and then the success that followed with the MVP and back to back titles without Shaq put him on a different level, by the time his career was over the rape allegations and all the other drama seemed to fade.

    Another reason is he didn’t just die but he died in a terrible accident that claimed the lives of several people, his daughter included and they all died in a pretty horrific manner.

  20. Doing something in spite of it not being wanted is the true Mamba mentality.

    Keep it up, vandals. 

  22. Even if you hate Kobe’s guts and believe the he was guilty how can you bring yourself to do that to what is also a little girls memorial?

  23. There are so many Kobe murals in LA that haven’t been disturbed at all for decades. This has to be some sort of beef between the artist and the neighborhood. Like you can’t just go uo and put up murals wherever you want.usually you have to work with the property owner and neighborhood.

  24. Y’all have a rapist as a president but say having a painting of Kobe is going too far? Smh.

  25. GOAT Rapist and it’s not even close. Remember: never take “no” for an answer. Keep hustling, mamba mentality💪

  26. He fucked a lady against her will when he was married.

    Nothing but inspirational

  27. I mean…he did rape a woman so he did something other than “bring light and insight and inspiration to the youth” …

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