A cherished mural honoring Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant has been defaced with graffiti in Downtown Los Angeles, sparking a wave of heartbreak and anger across the city and beyond. The mural, located at 1361 S. Main Street at the corner of 14th Street in the Fashion District, was one of the first public tributes painted after the Bryants’ tragic deaths in a helicopter crash in January 2020.
Now, five years later, what once stood as a beacon of hope and remembrance has been reduced to a battleground of street artist feuds. White paint and black graffiti tags now cover the faces of Kobe and Gigi. The artist’s signature, “Sloe Motions,” has been scribbled out, replaced with taunts and insults exchanged by rival graffiti writers.
Painted in early 2020 by Los Angeles-based artist Louie Palsino, known as Sloe Motions, the mural quickly became a sacred site for fans. It showed Kobe in his Lakers uniform lovingly kissing Gigi, a toddler in the painting, as she held a basketball in her lap. Framed in purple and gold hues—the iconic colors of the Los Angeles Lakers—the piece featured the words “Mambas Forever” in Old English script.
Beyond its beauty, the mural held deep emotional significance. It was inspired by a real-life moment: Kobe celebrating a championship with baby Gigi in his arms. For Palsino, who watched the 2000 Lakers championship parade pass through the very street where the mural now stands, this was personal.
“This was our city’s hero and his daughter. This mural was my thank you,”
he once shared in an interview.
The defacement was discovered in late April 2025. Photos circulated on social media showing the once-vibrant tribute marred by splashes of white paint and large, bubble-letter graffiti. One message read,
“Keep running your mouth, py”
Which was later crossed out and replaced with another taunt:
“Leave a name, py! Don’t B scared.”
The scrawlings suggest the mural became an unwilling canvas in a territorial feud among street artists.
What makes this act especially painful is the unwritten rule in Los Angeles’ art scene: murals of Kobe and Gigi are off-limits. In a city where graffiti is common, these tributes are almost never touched. Even during periods of civil unrest, they remained untouched—respected as cultural landmarks and emotional sanctuaries.
Fans, street art lovers, and the basketball community alike were outraged. Posts on X called it “heartbreaking” and “unforgivable.”
“Los Angeles can’t have nice things,”
one person lamented. Another simply said,
“This one hurts.”
Mike Asner, founder of the @kobemurals Instagram account, which tracks murals around the world, posted,
“Unfortunately one of the first Kobe and Gigi murals has been vandalized in Downtown Los Angeles. We’re sharing to bring awareness to the community of fans here in LA, and around the world, who respect and appreciate artists and their mural tributes.”
A GoFundMe was initiated to raise money to restore the mural. As yet, no comments have been made from artist Sloe Motions or from Kobe’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, but the public’s outcry has been similar to past campaigns. In 2023, another Sloe Motions mural at Hardcore Fitness was at risk of removal; fans rallied, gathered over 90,000 signatures, and even secured support from NBA 2K to keep it up for another year.
The mural at 1361 S. Main St. is one of more than 340 Kobe murals in the Los Angeles area. Worldwide, there are over 600. These pieces range from Manila to Milan, testament to Kobe Bryant’s legacy extending beyond sports and geography.
They are more than aesthetic commemoratives in Los Angeles. They are sites of healing, pilgrimage, and remembrance. They represent a moment when Los Angeles grieved together—and restarted hope through art, color, and remembrance.
