WEBVTT - INSPIRATION 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:10.399 The morning process for those who admired and loved Kobe 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:13.200 Bryant took on many forms, most of which were in 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:16.400 a very public way. There are hundreds of murals fainted 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:20.919 by artists who were inspired not because he is a 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:24.360 basketball player, but because Kobe was an artist too. I'm 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:27.280 Steve Gregory, and this is the death and life of 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:36.720 Kobe Bryant. Jimmy Kimmel was a close friend of Bryant's, 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:39.080 and Bryant was a frequent guest on Kimmel's late night 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:42.479 talk show. Kimmel would go on to host Bryant's memorial 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:45.519 at Staples Center and spoke about the many murals created 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.720 to honor his friend, and not just in l A 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:57.400 across the country and Kobe's hometown Philadelphia, in Italy, in India, 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:05.640 the Philippines, China, York, Phoenix, Boston, for God's sake, in 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:09.840 places where he would be booed on the court, Kobe 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:20.600 has missed. So we're here at Venice Boulevard in Mid City. 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.880 Mike Asner says he's a Kobe Bryant super fan, which 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:27.080 includes his love for the murals painted of Bryant. Bryant's 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:30.200 daughter Gianna, the Lakers in Los Angeles. This is a 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:33.959 very well known mural by an artist Gustavo who goes 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.480 by g Z dot j R. It's the Leave a 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.479 Legacy mural that was done actually with the Lakers before 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:44.000 the playoffs last year and gusted an amazing job. He 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:48.200 added Kobe and the trophies after they won the championship. Um. 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:50.400 So this is one of the most famous murals throughout 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:52.840 the world and people have come here to reflect and 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:55.640 to show their respect and gratitude. I mean, you're looking at, 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:58.720 from my opinion, a beautiful work of art. But there's 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:03.040 a lot of messages here Slee around social justice and uh, 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:05.240 you know what this team has, what the city and 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:08.960 what the world has gone through. But you know, this team, 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:11.800 specifically for me as a huge Lakers fan, means a 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:16.800 great deal overcoming adversity all year, um, pushing for what 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:19.359 I believe is right in the world. And you know, 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.640 they won the championship and this reflects them winning that championship. 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:25.560 After learning that Briant's death, Asner says he was so 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:28.960 moved he had to do something, anything, to honor Bryant. 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:32.160 So he decided to create a website which shows the 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:35.639 locations of all the known murals of Bryant around the world. 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:38.760 And it started with an Instagram page at Kobe Mural 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:41.799 uh than at Kobe mural dot com website, and at 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:45.400 this point there's an interactive map with over four murals 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:48.760 around the world. And my whole purpose here is just 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:52.120 to make it easy for fans. It's not money making operation, 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:54.440 it's not a business. It's just purely out of love 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:58.680 for the fans, the families, and obviously Cobe and the Lakers. 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:00.760 So how do you know where the murals are at? 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:03.680 You know, it's funny. In the beginning, it took a 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:05.519 lot of work to find them and just to get 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:08.799 the accurate information because it's hard to get accurate information 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:12.160 sometimes um these days. So in the beginning I would 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:15.560 really dig and scour and try to find these locations. 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.400 But over time fans are not reaching out to me, 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:22.040 which is really impressive and beautiful. Um. It's been a 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.040 really nice community of fans around the world, every corner 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:27.640 of the world, who at this point, when they're working 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:29.440 on something, they notify me, and then I'm just going 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:33.240 to notify the fans. So you know, there's not a 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:35.320 lot of greater things on social media sometimes, but this 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:38.080 is one nice positive from my perspective, to bring us 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.760 together to do something to get back and um, you know, 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.040 I'm just grateful to the artists and fans around the world. 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:45.920 I assume l A has the most murals. Yeah, you know, 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:48.400 it's hard to keep track, but um, we're over four 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:51.800 hundred throughout the world. I believe about two d fifty 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.960 plus in southern California. That includes Orange County where I'm from, 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:58.520 up to Los Angeles. Um, you know, there's murals all 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:02.560 over the country and United States, but almost every corner 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:05.040 of the world there's a mural. And what's really cool 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.720 is we've seen a lot of murals where he grew 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:10.760 up in Italy and he spent time in France. He 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.520 would travel to China and Asia in the off season 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:17.360 and left a really big impression there. So I'm just 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:21.719 amazed and humbled and grateful for this work that's being done. 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:25.039 But every artist has their own unique style and perspective, 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:26.800 and that's what makes us really special. It's not the 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:30.280 same thing everywhere. It's really unique. Each time something goes 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:39.279 up and one of those artists goes by our tune, 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:42.560 our tune, whose real name is art Goes to Kochikian, 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:45.160 says he was so moved by Brian's death he painted 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:47.599 an entire mural on the wall of a business in 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:51.120 Studio City within twenty four hours afterward of the fatal 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:54.000 crash went public. I got out of the shower and 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:56.880 when I got out, Um, first thing I noticed my 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:01.479 phone was going off and it was about Kobe and 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:05.200 the first article I see in the second and I'm 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:08.800 opening up different social media's and every single post was 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:13.080 about it. And I just I just lay down on 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:15.679 the bed for a while and I'm you know, obviously 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:18.720 it's a big inspiration for me, and I was just 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:20.599 trying to wrap my head around it and trying to 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:23.320 figure out if it was real or fake. I kind 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:24.920 of first thought maybe it was fake, but then when 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:26.560 I seen all those posts, I was like, oh, oh, 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:32.919 sh this is real. Um yeah, I just and and 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.320 and I had a I had a date right then. 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:38.360 That's what I was taking a shower. So I went 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:41.919 to meet this girl in Beverly Hills. And when I 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:44.839 got there, I'm like, you know, I kept on thinking 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:46.880 about Wow, Kobe said, Kobe's did and I'm like, I 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:49.360 gotta do something about this. So I left the date 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:52.039 so I could go start the mirror, and I started 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.720 that night, and I pulled the twenty four our session. 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:57.640 I went and took a little baby nap, came back 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.919 another two hours, and I finished the whole thing without 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.400 even knowing twenty four is without even thinking twenty four 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:09.200 is Kobe's number and two was her number. Gness, So yeah, 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:12.279 I just jumped on it because I thought I something 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:16.880 you had to jump on right away. I mean, I 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.600 forget about the inspiration. You know, I've done many murals 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:24.240 about Kobe, but it was just this guy demands the respect. 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:26.080 You know, he's he's all about l a he has 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.479 l A he. He brought a lot of pride and 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:32.760 inspiration to the city and the whole Mamba mentality. Millions 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:35.560 of people are talking about it, practicing it. You know, 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:37.359 he had a big impact. He is l a he. 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.279 I I looked at him as one of our idols. 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:45.599 I guess if Michelangelo was alive, Kobe would get a statue. 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:48.440 You know, it sounds like he was not only an 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:52.000 inspiration to you as an athlete, but just as a person. Yeah, 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:55.000 he was. You know, he was a good role model, 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:58.320 good father. I just had a baby girl, so I'm 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:02.520 a girl dad too. Now you felt compelled to put 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.560 something on canvas, in this case the side of a building. 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:09.240 So where did you paint this and what did you 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:13.400 decide to do? Um? I I had already painted the 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:17.080 whole side of that that wall, that business, and it 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:20.720 was the front facing wall left and I we were 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:24.640 gonna paint something else. They wanted a Marilyn Morrow, I believe, 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:28.480 and I just wasn't really feeling a Marilyn Morow. So 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:32.120 I kind of took the weekend off. I went to Vegas, 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:35.400 got drunk, came back, and that's when Kobe happened, and 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:39.680 I'm like, okay, it's it's almost like you can't make 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:43.840 this up. You know, the signs already pointed where what 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:46.800 I should paint there, so that wall was ready to go. 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:48.840 I just didn't want to paint what I was supposed 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:53.400 to paint. And when Kobe died, I'm like, I'm not 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:55.680 painting anything else but this. And I even told the 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:59.320 guys I was painting for, I'm like, I'm gonna paint Kobe. 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:02.320 And at first they were like, oh, you don't know 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:04.160 let's talk about it. And I'm like, it's either I 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:07.320 paint Kobe. I'm not painting anything, you know, And that's 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:09.800 how pretty much they were like, okay, let's start on that. 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:12.440 What came to you? What was the first image that 0:08:12.520 --> 0:08:16.000 came to you that you had to paint. I wanted to, 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:19.800 I really wanted to showing the image of Kobe kind 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:24.040 of looking up in the sky where in a way 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:28.600 saying that here I come. And uh, when I found 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:30.320 a good picture that match said it was the one 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:35.280 where he's biting his jersey. It's iconic picture. Then uh, 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:38.720 you know, I was already planning for the mural. And 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:41.440 that's when I found out Gig died. I didn't I 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:44.280 didn't know Gig died that first. Then when I found 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:46.640 a gig died that, I'm like, wow, there's no way 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:49.680 I can't put her in this. It would almost be 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:54.160 disrespect for their family, you know. So, um, I just 0:08:54.440 --> 0:09:00.040 started searchings pictures kind of looking upward, and I on 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:03.640 two images that kind of matched, and and then the 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:07.560 rest I just sorry, I don't know what the mirror 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:09.600 is gonna look like. I never know what my mirror 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:13.439 is gonna look like because chances are while I'm doing it, 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:15.960 I'm gonna get a bright idea and it's gonna shift course, 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:18.800 but the main concept is still going to be there. 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:23.080 That's why I don't like to do a mural knowing 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:25.920 what I'm It's just to me, it's boring because you 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:29.200 want my creativity and spend of an hour or a 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.400 couple of hours while I'm sketching it, or you want 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:34.320 my creativity for a whole week while I'm gonna be 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:37.839 painting it. So last minute I could get a bright idea, 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:42.120 and as I'm painting, I'm getting more ideas coming at me. 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.839 So it was a very fluid process for you. Yeah, 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.040 I never know what it's gonna look like, not not 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:52.040 even the canvas pieces. So twenty four hours. Do you 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:55.560 remember the final thing you painted when you said okay, 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:59.040 I'm done and you step back. It was the shading 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:02.040 on the jersey and I stepped back and I was like, 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:06.480 well that looks good. It's almost life like. And I 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:09.679 mean that experience was so cool. Every time I looked up, 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:13.040 and I mean every time I looked back, there was 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:17.200 like thirty to fifty people were taking pictures. You know, 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:21.240 you could you could see I'm causing traffic. People are swart, 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:24.160 you know, breaking their neck, just slowing down the traffic, 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:27.160 looking trying to swear from the second lane to pull 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:30.360 over so they could come take pictures. People you know, 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:36.680 bringing candles, lighting on flowers, memorials, pictures and just posting 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.800 by the wall. It just it just turned into a memorial. 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:43.439 It was. It was kind of cool just seeing that process. 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:45.680 You know, you do a lot of murals and not 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.000 too many get that same kind of attention, and that 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.440 just tells you the importance of the guy you're painting. 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.480 You know, I've done many murals and nothing was really 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.880 to that caliber. Because within like that twenty four hours, 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:02.920 I had almost about five six news stations pull up 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:05.920 behind me. When you were I'm sure you were in 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:07.800 the zone. You were doing your thing, you say, you 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:10.800 step back and looked at it, and and then are 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:15.280 you ever completely satisfied with your final product? No, I'm 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:18.080 never satisfied because I always feel like that could be 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:21.120 more done. But sometimes you just gotta learn to know 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:25.160 when and enough is enough. You know, sometimes too much 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:29.120 is too much and it can be overkilled. But um, 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:32.080 you know I got this saying my favorite pieces my 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.640 next piece. So I'm never really looking forward to the 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:37.960 one I'm doing. I'm looking for the looking forward for 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:40.959 the next one. I've done many Kobes, but ever since 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:44.120 he passed away, I've done two one the other ones 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:49.120 on las Anega in Venice. It's like high it's Kobe 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:53.800 daughter and he's got angel wings and the angel wings 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:57.800 is turning into hands and wrapping around gianna Um. It's 0:11:57.840 --> 0:12:01.040 on Global Motor Sports. Is that satisfaction for you when 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:02.760 people want to take their pictures in front of it 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:05.319 and they look at it. Some got emotional. A guy spoke, 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:09.440 we got teary eyed. Yeah. Matt Barnes pulled up. He 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:13.480 got tear eyed too. Um, you know, he played with him. 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:17.200 A lot of a lot of people got teary eyed. 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.200 There was some lady that pulled up Marrow. She had 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.000 that Lakers ring and she had some sort of connection 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:27.800 with the family and the Lakers Championship ring. Uh. And yeah, 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:29.840 you see a lot of people tearing up. And they 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:32.920 were coming up to me shaking my hand, thank you 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:35.600 for doing this, and I'm like, thank you for loving it, 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:39.600 you know, like to me, this is more of an obligation, 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.480 you know, it's like, you know, I don't want to 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:47.280 keep bringing up Michelisba. We do our part. We just 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:51.680 painting outside and stead inside. When you talk about inspiration, 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:54.280 he were talking a lot about you felt compelled to 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:56.040 do this within twenty four hours. You even broke a 0:12:56.160 --> 0:13:00.319 date to do this. I mean, he must have been 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:04.960 a pretty powerful influence on you. Yeah. Yeah, you don't 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:07.640 really get the motivation to jump up and paint too often. 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:12.640 So if I finished that whole wall and matter one day, 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:18.600 I just it's cool, you know, I enjoy it. And 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.640 and even though it was like three am, nobody was 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.880 around and there was no wind, and then all of 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:28.800 a sudden, these two huge like gusts the wind and 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:31.880 leaves going everywhere, and and then it just stopped again. 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:36.680 And I'm like, was that something? Like? Was that something was? 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:40.400 It was Kobe Angiana just breezing by over here, but 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:43.400 it was it was crazy. My whole body just got 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:47.840 goose bumps. So were you by yourself overnight doing this? Yeah? 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:51.680 I was already Usually during the daytime, at nighttime people 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:55.360 are there, But overnight that's the only time I'll get peace, 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:58.840 the only time I could actually focus. That's what my 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:02.480 phone is off and people are not asking questions, and 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:07.160 you know, I can actually focus on the project the hand. 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.520 What's that like when you're by yourself and your thoughts 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:14.800 and you're painting a portrait of someone who just died 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:17.839 hours earlier. Oh, you do do a lot of thinking. 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:23.120 Like I cried throughout that over neither um just thinking 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:30.640 about it. But um, I like it. I mean, I 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:34.200 think most artists are nocturnal. They should be producing artwork 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:36.880 at night. So, like I said, that's the only time 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.720 you can actually get some peace, peace and quiet and 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:43.160 peace of mind. Way you know, you have no distractions. 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:47.440 The text message can be a distraction if I'm painting. Um, 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:51.400 so when there's no distractions, you can literally be locked 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:53.520 in your zone for five hours and not notice five 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:58.520 hours just went by. Do you continue to do copy 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:03.240 inspired portraits from your I had like fifty people asking 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:07.720 me to do Kobe stuff, and I just refused them. Um. 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:11.640 I didn't want to just be a generic artist that 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:15.080 just keeps going around doing Kobe for higher I just thought, 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:17.280 if I was gonna do him, I was gonna pick 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:20.480 and choose where I wanted it, what location, If it 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:23.000 was gonna you know, make an impact or not not 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:26.200 to feel right. Yeah. Yeah, And and art it's basically 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:29.480 by feel right. Like recently I did a mural and 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:32.720 it was just a great mural, but I did not 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:35.080 like it because of the location, because it was not 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:39.200 on the big street, even though it's commissioned. It's like, 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:41.880 deep down inside, you're like, this artwork does not belong 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:45.200 on this street. This artwork belongs on somewhere where people 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:47.840 could actually enjoy it, you know, take pictures of it. 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:51.120 So um, yeah, you definitely got to feel it out. 0:15:52.000 --> 0:16:02.960 I like the reactions to people. Murals like our Tuns 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:06.120 continue to attract fans. What brought you to this location? 0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:08.880 Kobe Bryan was one of my favorite players. One of 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:11.360 the most visited murals is tucked away in an alley 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:14.200 about a block away from the Los Angeles Convention Center. 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:17.480 A group of four friends recently traveled from Detroit, Michigan, 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:19.240 to visit l A and one of the things on 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:23.640 their list a visit to this mural. Meet Gabby, Marcel Milano, 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.720 and a guy who calls himself Cheese. They all agree 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:29.360 that Bryant was an inspiration, and here's how they felt 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:32.160 about seeing the mural. For the first time, told as 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:35.040 best as possible through their face coverings home. Just like 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:37.560 being able to like to take his drive from like 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:39.960 how he was on the court and put it into 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:42.360 his family now. It was really just like the most 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:44.400 important thing I just liked about the man um. I 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:46.760 just see a man that was passionate about his craft 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:48.680 and what he does and put his all into it. 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:52.280 I see greatness. Kobe Bryant. Was this the epitome of 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:56.560 hard work and dedication and definitely an inspiration even like 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:58.440 someone I thought was like I just broke my hands. 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:00.600 So I remember a photo with him when he was 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:03.360 shooting with his broken wrists and like still practicing, like 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:05.440 in his pajamas, you know what I'm saying, So he 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:07.960 feels inspiration even to this day. It was it was 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:10.320 the drive. He had everything you've seen him do, he 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:13.119 put his heart to it, like he literally left everything 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:15.480 on the floor every night. People hated him and practice 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:18.159 because he worked so hard. He literally would cut you 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:19.679 out if you wouldn't work in his hard ast him. 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:21.080 If you didn't work as hard as him, you couldn't 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.600 play with. For me, it's like how many people really 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:26.119 looked up to him from the kids to the adults, 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:27.879 he really had a lot of Like even if you 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.119 look on this wall, you got millions of people signing 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:34.240 autographs and sending their piece to Kobe. It's a dope man, 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:36.480 Like he did he did this thing while he was here. 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:38.960 Everything that he did outside the basketball, he still applied 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.840 the same drive, the same determination. He's still put in 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:44.200 the same amount of efforts. So the fact that that 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:48.080 was just his mentality overall was definitely inspiring. And to 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:50.800 let you know, like you don't have to just stay 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:53.560 focused on one thing. You can apply the same pressure 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:55.840 to everything aspect of your life and you know, just 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:59.480 watch it blossom. So he's definitely that guy. Just watching 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:02.359 and watching his legacy, And honestly, I've never been like 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:05.959 a huge basketball fan, but seeing like when he passed 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:09.119 in how he affected so many people around the world. 0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:11.320 You know what I'm saying, they kind of like put 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:12.960 something on me like, oh, I gotta go harder. You 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:14.680 know what I'm saying, I gotta I gotta credit legacy 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:17.240 just as just as good as his. And the feeling 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:19.399 of seeing Kobe Bryant for the first time on a 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:23.040 larger than life mural almost crying literally like that was 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:26.520 just how much of an inspiration, how dope he was 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.280 to everybody. And it's just like it's an energy right 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:32.479 here or wherever you see him, it's like it's an 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:35.560 energy in l a Like honestly, you step here, you 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:38.080 know him, and like you know everybody that passed that 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:40.399 was from here, you can feel the energy. Like standing 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:42.440 in right here, I can feel his energy coming up. 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:46.080 Another artistic homage to Bryant, and the mayor of Los 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:50.200 Angeles talks about Bryant's inspiration in philanthropy. As the death 0:18:50.240 --> 0:19:14.720 and life of Kobe Bryant continues, the mural has become 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:16.879 one of the most popular ways to show love and 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:20.439 respect to Bryant. The website Kobe mural dot com currently 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:23.080 lists more than four hundred around the world, most of 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:28.679 which are in southern California, But within hours of the 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:31.960 crash that killed Bryant, another type of canvas would fast 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:35.200 become the place for portraits of Bryant, Bryant's numbers twenty 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:38.520 four and eight, Bryant's daughter Gianna, and the Black Mambas 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.680 for artists. We're doing about four a day each of us, 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:45.960 so maybe anywhere, like for sure from ten to twenty 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:49.800 tattoos a day just for Kobe. Mikey Montoya owns and 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:53.199 operates Sunny Days Tattoo Parlor and Arcadia that's about an 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:56.080 hour east of Los Angeles. He and his artist Ricky 0:19:56.160 --> 0:19:59.320 remember learning about the crash ms actually flying in from 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:02.440 New York and um, we had landed, we had got 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:06.119 in our vehicle, and then um, we saw it. Actually 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:09.240 he saw it on social media, so he's like, hey, 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:12.080 guess what happened. And we just kind of took a pause. 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:15.080 We were on the freeway and we both like kind 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:18.679 of silent for a while, and um, kind of in shock. 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:21.520 That's where it took me. Montoya says, as soon as 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:23.800 he opened his shop, he knew things were going to 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.679 be different. It seems like every walks of life was 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:29.120 coming in and wanting to get something, even if they 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:33.679 couldn't actually afford a tattoo. They were, you know, getting 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:36.840 the money together to get this number eight or twenty four, 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:40.919 just a little mamba or anything. The colors. It was 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:45.600 pretty wild, you know, the people showing their um kind 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:48.439 of their emotional outlet towards it all, in which I 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:51.520 had a little bit myself and I these people getting 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:55.760 it permanently. It was. It was very I don't know, 0:20:56.880 --> 0:21:00.160 like um kind of sad, kind of the most as 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:03.200 were all over the place, even tattooing it. Not knowing 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:06.520 these people tattooing it. It's not like their father and mother. 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:09.959 But to me, um, some of my customers were like 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:14.000 saying that Kobe was like their father, mother or brother 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:18.280 or whatnot, no matter the gender, it's just the role 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:20.679 he played. Which I didn't see it like that, but 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:23.680 now I do, now, you know. It was it was 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:26.800 pretty cool. We were doing like each artists, say, there 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:29.200 was four artists. We were doing about four a day 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:33.480 each of us. So maybe anywhere like for sure, from 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:37.280 ten to twenty tattoos a day just for Kobe or 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:41.840 making appointments or just um, even just Laker tattoos they wanted, 0:21:41.920 --> 0:21:45.800 you know, not necessarily just the eight. They wanted Lakers. 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:49.240 And usually like kind of couples came in either friends 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:52.040 or a group of friends or you know. Yeah, so 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:55.359 they were all talking about it and it um. It 0:21:55.480 --> 0:22:00.240 struck everybody a little bit differently. It was weird us 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:04.280 especially the younger age people, like I would say, anywhere 0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:09.560 from like thirty down down. They were really into getting 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:13.320 the little Kobe tattoos. Montoya's friend Ricky is a tattoo 0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:16.320 artist at the shopping is also a big Kobe Bryant fan. 0:22:16.440 --> 0:22:20.479 Probably his logo itself, the mamba symbol of the one 0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:23.520 of the snake, his his main logo for the night 0:22:23.560 --> 0:22:27.359 for Nike. That was probably the most popular one for everybody. 0:22:27.720 --> 0:22:30.800 The snake itself, the amount of scales, on the amount 0:22:30.800 --> 0:22:35.240 of different shades and and just a very intricate logo. 0:22:35.520 --> 0:22:39.560 Popular requests would have to be his portrait, the one 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:43.800 especially when he's grabbing his jersey and waving around. I 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:46.639 forgot which game it was, but anyways, grabbed his jersey 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:49.000 and he shakes it. That's like probably the most popular 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:52.439 one that everyone gets. The largest one was probably like 0:22:52.520 --> 0:22:55.040 ankle up to up to the knee. I think it 0:22:55.160 --> 0:22:58.200