Valenzuela City unveiled a tribute to Kobe Bryant on Sunday, a day before he was killed in a helicopter crash.
“House of Kobe” gym was originally built as a convention center in Barangay Karuhatan.
But Valenzuela City Rep. Eric Martinez, House Committee on Youth and Sports Development chairman, said that a group of artists had painted a huge mural of Kobe at the cemented fence, hence, it was decided that it be transformed into a basketball court in honor of his Manila visit in 2016. The artwork even had a text: “Heroes come and go but legends are forever.”
Martinez said the inauguration accidentally coincided with Kobe’s death.
“Noong inauguration noong Sunday sabi ko sa microphone, I am calling on Kobe Bryant na if bumalik siya sa Pilipinas, please visit Valenzuela City,” Martinez, a diehard Bryant fan, said.
Martinez also said the court was embellished with other Los Angeles Lakers memorabilia, including T-shirts hung on the side railings, as well as the images of Bryant’s teammates like Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal whom he had a feud before.
