According to the Orange County Chronicle, Anaheim’s oldest park has a basketball court for the first time since it opened in 1927, and this new basketball court is more than just a few rebounds and some White line.
Pearson Park, a few miles north of Disneyland, is now “dream courts” honoring NBA legend Kobe Bryant. The Los Angeles Lakers’ royal purple and gold tiles make up the entire playing field. In the center of the basketball court, a white circle surrounded by purple butterflies is engraved with the names of Kobe and his daughter Gianna Bryant. On one side of the pitch is a giant butterfly-shaped mural with their smiling faces.
Bryant and Gianna, a budding basketball talent, were among the nine killed in the January 2020 helicopter crash in the San Fernando Valley.
Pearson Park Basketball Court is funded by the Nancy Lieberman Charities, an organization founded by Basketball Hall of Famers and former NBA coaches that has established 110 “dream courts” across the country. The new stadium was created in partnership with the Bryant family’s Mamba and Mambacita Foundation.
Last Sunday, the new basketball court officially cut the ribbon, which was Gianna’s 16th birthday. The new stadium is now available for public use.
Bryant’s widow, Gianna’s mother, Vanessa Bryant, posted on her social media Instagram account on Monday that the new basketball court was “the result of love.” Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu said in a press release issued by the city: “The new basketball court will make basketball fun for the kids of Anaheim.”
(compiler: Jing)
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