BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — On Monday, twenty thousand mourners will pack the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles to celebrate the lives of Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old-daughter Gianna, who were among the nine people killed in a helicopter crash last month.
The date of the memorial (2/24) was chosen to reflect the jersey numbers of the LA Lakers star and his daughter; 24, and 2, respectively. Ticket prices were also set at $24.02 or $224 to pay homage to the Bryants.
According to the LA Times, the public memorial will start at 10 a.m. PST, (1 p.m. EST) and is expected to continue until 1 p.m. PST (4 p.m. EST.)
It will be available for streaming on ABC News Live on various platforms including Roku, Hulu, Facebook Watch, and Apple TV. Spectrum News 1 will also carry the memorial live, and so will a select few local networks.
(Getty Images)
Los Angeles officials have cautioned those who did not get a ticket to stay away from the venue itself. Staples Center President Lee Zeidman said on Friday that locals should "heed our message: there will be nothing to be seen here."
The outside of the arena is expected to show black screens, the entire surrounding area will be barricaded to keep pedestrians away, and nearby restaurants will be closed for the day. Crowds of locals will instead gather to watch the memorial on big screens inside stadiums throughout LA and Orange County, where all nine victims lived.
Kobe and Gianna Bryant died in Calabasas, California on January 26. Their family and friends held a private burial in Newport Beach, California on February 7.
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