Kobe Bryant Public Memorial To Be Held On February 24 At The Staples Center: Report

Kobe Bryant‘s public memorial will be held on February 24, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, a source told E! News. The event is expected to be televised, but details on which network have not yet been released. The memorial will honor both Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, according to the report, and is slated to air at 10 a.m. Pacific.

It is believed that the Bryant family will hold a private funeral service for Kobe and Gianna.

The public memorial announcement comes almost two weeks after Bryant was killed alongside his daughter, Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The basketball legend was heading to the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, California, for a basketball game when the helicopter crashed.

Bryant’s family, including his wife, Vanessa, and three daughters, Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and Capri, 7 months, are all expected to be in attendance at the public memorial later this month. Bryant’s parents, Joe and Pam, as well as his two sisters, Sharia Washington and Shaya Tabb, are also expected to attend. It is unknown if tickets will be made available to the general public.

Vanessa Bryant has not confirmed the date and time for a public memorial. However, she has been active on Instagram over the past week. Most recently, she shared several videos from an event honoring the life of her late daughter. On Wednesday, Gianna’s basketball jersey was retired.

Aside from U.S. presidents and other political figures, a few celebrities have been honored with public memorial services that have been televised. Two of the most recent include the King of Pop, Michael Jackson — whose public memorial was held at the Staples Center on July 7, 2009 — and rapper Nipsey Hussle — whose life was remembered on April 11, 2019, also at the Staples Center.

Bryant is the first athlete to be memorialized at the Staples Center, his home arena for the majority of his NBA career.

Funeral and memorial arrangements for the other seven lives lost in the tragic helicopter crash are in the process of being planned. Just this week, ABC 11 reported that Christina Mauser‘s funeral service will be held on February 16 at 1 p.m. in Huntington Beach, California.

“Mauser was a mother of three and former coach at Orange County’s Harbor Day School, where Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna attended, and most recently worked full-time at Bryant’s Mamba Academy, where the group was headed for Gianna’s basketball tournament at the time of the crash,” ABC 11 reported.

To read more about the lives lost in the helicopter crash, click here.