Kobe and Gianna Bryant Book to highlight 100-plus worldwide murals

When New York street artist Andaluz finished his Costa Mesa mural honoring Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others who lost their lives in a January 26, 2020, helicopter crash, he dedicated it to a state that still provides for the loss of one of its icons.

“I really do Hope this piece brings some comfort To all those affected by this tragedy, “ Andaluz Wrote in an Instagram post February 24, 2020, after completing the project, adding “This one’s for you Cali. From New York with love. “

Five years later, Andaluz’s loving depiction of Kobe and Gigi in that mural is going worldwide. That portrait of a stoic Bryant with his daughter resting her head on top of his is used as cover art for the upcoming book”Mamba & Mambacita forever. “

The book — written by Bryant’s wife and Gianna’s mother Vanessa Bryant and photographed by longtime Bryant and NBA photographer Andrew Bernstein — will feature images and stories of more than 100 murals around the globe honoring the beloved father and daughter.

“Wow My mural made the cover of the Kobe & Gigi Mural Book Vanessa Bryant lays out,” Andaluz wrote on Instagram Wednesday, the same day Vanessa made the book announcement and four days before the five-year anniversary of the Calabasas crash.

“I really appreciate the Bryant family, @kobemural , @lakers organization and all my supporters. Truly blessed. Praise God because he is the hearer of prayers. “

The book is slated for release on August 19, days before what would have been Bryant’s 47th birthday (August 23) and what has become known as Mamba Day (August 24 due to Bryant’s two Jersey – numbers 8 and 24). It will be published by MCD Books, who also published Bryant’s “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play” in 2018.

“‘Mamba & Mambacita Forever’ ensures that The Kobe and Gianna Bryant murals live on Even after the most monumental murals, everyone has crumbled,” the publisher wrote on Instagram on Wednesday.