The memory of deceased Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant lives on and he was celebrated on Aug. 23, which would have been his 43rd birthday.
Now the celebration continues. There are never-before-seen pictures of the NBA Hall of Famer that can now be purchased in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT).
Cryptograph, the company behind the sale
of the NFTs announced the chance for people to purchase one in support of Bryant’s The Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation via their Twitter account.“We are very excited to bring our next generation of Cryptographs into the world over the coming year; it’s going to be a truly iconic and historic series that we think collectors are going to love,” said the Co-founder of Cryptograph, Tommy Alastra.
Alastra also told ESPN that this collection of never-before-seen photos, which were taken during a 1999 shoot at an abandoned warehouse in downtown L.A. are special.
“This shoot is special because you don’t see him in a jersey,” Alastra noted. “He’s Kobe Bean Bryant. You can see the father, the son, the husband come out. It’s just him, raw, in every day Kobe. It’s special. … They’re really quite beautiful.”
Bryant played his whole 20-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a five-time NBA champion, a two-time Finals MVP, and the league’s most valuable player in 2008. During his career, Bryant made the All-Star team 18 times and was the youngest player to ever reach 30,000 points.
Bryant retired from the NBA in 2016, scoring an NBA-season-high 60 points in his final game.The 41-year-old basketball legend died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, CA, along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven other people on Jan. 26, 2020.