LOS ANGELES — Before dawn’s light crested over the Calabasas peak, sculptor Dan Medina dragged his 150-pound bronze statue of Kobe and Gianna “Gigi” Bryant up the steep, narrow trail.
Medina, negotiating the eroding trail, could not see the rising hills. He finally made it to the crest, where he placed his formal yet temporary memorial at the site where the basketball star, his daughter and seven others were killed two years ago when the helicopter they were in crashed. The site had long been hallowed ground for many Kobe Bryant fans. Now, it had a center.
“You come up here and it is kind of emotional,” said Medina, a West Hills sculptor, who says the bronze is a smaller version of a large life-size sculpture he is creating. “The flowers, the jerseys, the hats blow away, and I think we need something more permanent.”
