Kobe Bryant Public Memorial: When Does the ‘Celebration of Life’ Start?

Additional information for the public memorial service for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna was released on Friday and fans can now register to get access to the public sale of tickets. That means the “Celebration of Life” will take place very soon. In fact, the date of the memorial service was finalized last week and it will be on Feb. 24 with a 10 a.m. local time start. The event will be held at the Staples Center which is the home of Bryant’s former team, the Los Angeles Lakers.

Earlier this month Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the city was planning to honor Bryant, Gianna and the seven other victims in the helicopter crash, but nothing was set in stone.

“There will absolutely be a memorial to mark the contributions of this incredible man and not only him, but to commemorate the loss of his daughter and all the other families that were there,” Garcetti, 48, said. “We don’t have that date finalized but we’ve been talking every day to the Lakers, and most importantly, to [Bryant’s widow, Vanessa] as well.”

“I think one message that I would say is this is not just about a man who was a basketball player, this is about a father, this is about a leader, this is about a filmmaker, this is about an artist, this is about somebody who was so much more than just how he was on the court,” he added.

The Lakers did pay tribute to Bryant on Jan. 31. It was the first game for the team since the helicopter crash which happened on Jan. 26 and LeBron James gave an emotional speech.

“I look at this as a celebration tonight,” LeBron James said in his speech to the crowd during the ceremony. “This is a celebration of the 20 years of the blood, the sweat, the tears, the broken down body…the determination to be as great as he could be. Tonight we celebrate the kid that came here at 18 years of age, retired at 38 and became probably the best dad that we’ve seen over the last three years. Tonight is a celebration.”

Bryant was a member of the Lakers from 1996-2016. He led the Lakers to five NBA championships from 2000-2010 and he was named to the All-Star Team 18 times.