Source: Cooper Neill / Getty
Regardless of the sport, there are few athletes as admired as Kobe Bryant, now one of the NFL’s leading wide receivers, is paying homage.
Bryant’s death shocked the world, and to pay his respects, Dallas Cowboy CeeDee Lamb got the Los Angeles Lakers legend featured in a massive tattoo on his back.
The 23-year-old’s back was inked by Andres Ortega at Onder Ink in Arizona earlier this week to finish the work of art and other placements on his traps to his lower back. There was so much skin to cover that Ortega had three other artists along to help divide and conquer, and it still took about eight hours to complete.
“An iconic photo of Kobe chewing on his jersey now sits on Lamb’s right shoulder blade, accompanied by a black mamba with its tongue out. On his left shoulder blade, there’s a huge image of a jaguar. Just below that, there’s a Spartan warrior — and to the right of that, there’s an I-45 sign that represents the highway that runs through Dallas. There’s also a crucifix, a crown and the words “My Story Isn’t Over,’” writes TMZ.
Bryant’s legend has lived on after he passed away along with his daughter Gianna and seven others in January 2020 after a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, while traveling to a Mamba Sports Academy basketball game.
Since his passing, memorabilia tied to the Black Mamba has been highly sought after, including a piece of the court on which he played his last game against the Utah Jazz in 2016 that went for $800,000.
“Under Kobe’s sneakers on the evening of his final game, during which he scored 60 points, lay pieces of hardwood emblazoned with the two numbers he wore over the course of his career. This is the portion of the court displaying his #8, which he would sign,” a narrator says in video about the hardwood. “That April night in 2016, Bryant addressed the sold-out Staples Center crowd leaving them with just two words before placing the mic down at center court and exiting for the final time.”
See how Twitter remembered the legend below:
Cowboys Receiver CeeDee Lamb Salutes Kobe Bryant With Massive Back Tattoo was originally published on cassiuslife.com
