Kobe Bryant Mural Becomes Shrine Across From Barclays Center

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Passersby and pilgrims alike flocked to a new mural of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna across from the Barclays Center.

The mural depicts Bryant, 41, and Gianna, 13, and bears the names of seven others who died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26. Artist Efren Andaluz painted the tribute this week on a building on Flatbush Avenue and Pacific Street, Pix11 reported.

It quickly drew visitors like Melvin Anderson. He was off work Thursday and trekked across a rainy Brooklyn to visit it.

"When I heard about it I made it my duty to come and see this," he said.

The mural faces the Barclays Center where the Brooklyn Nets play. The stadium bears giant banners of Nets players, but it's clear for now they fall in the Bryants' shadow.

Calixto Leduc snapped a photograph of Bryant and Gianna, a rising basketball star in her own right and seen as his protege. Their bond and deaths made the hashtag #GirlDad trend worldwide.

"It's like you're watching him from the inside out," Leduc said. "Kobe inspired a lot of young people to be better fathers."

Leduc himself is a father of one daughter and four boys. He went back to a Patch reporter to stress Bryant's influence on generations of young parents.

"He just made a lot of young kids focus on what's important," he said.

Anderson also reflected on Bryant's place as a role model and parent.

"When I heard his daughter was also in the crash, I suffered a blow," he said. "She was supposed to be his protege. She didn't get a chance to blossom."

A single yellow candle sat in front of the mural. Anderson mused there should be more, and he said he planned to spend more time that day in front of the mural.

True to his word, Anderson did so, weathering the drizzle and chatting with other onlookers for the better part of an hour.

"Why did it have to be this guy right here?" Anderson said.

Andaluz's artwork can be seen on his Instagram.