SUMMARY
- Julie Rotblatt Amrany is the 65 year old sculptor behind the Kobe Bryant statue in Crypto.com Arena.
- Fans claim that she should be in prison for doing such a bad job depicting the Black Mamba.
NBA fans are not holding back their words when discussing the latest Kobe Bryant statue that was recently unveiled outside Crypto.com Arena. As most members of the basketball community should be aware, Kobe was a Los Angeles Lakers legend and managed to help the franchise win 5 NBA titles. He tragically died in a helicopter accident which also killed his young daughter Gianna and several others.
To show their respects and pay honor to the Black Mamba, the Lakers organization decided to have 3 statues depicting Kobe displayed outside their stadium. While this is certainly a touching gesture and is likely appreciated by the Black Mamba’s fans, the first unveiled statue has not been received well by the general public.
Some fans have even gone far enough to opine that the sculptor for the Kobe statue should be punished for doing such a bad job. Since the artist is usually lesser known when compared to the art, one might want to know more about who made the statue and how fans truly feel about it.
Julie Rotblatt Amrany is the sculptor for all 3 Kobe Bryant statues
It turns out that the sculptor who was responsible for the 81-point Kobe Bryant game statue is a 65-year-old woman called Julie Rotblatt Amrany. She was born in Chicago and attended the Art Institute of Chicago to learn more about sculpting, painting, and figure drawing. Over the years, Julie participated in several art projects and even assisted in murals in the Bay Area.
Kobe Bryant’s (first) statue is walking off from the 81 point game. pic.twitter.com/9bQiTVhkxE
— Kobe Highlights & Motivation (@kobehighlight) February 9, 2024
Some fans will be interested to hear that she was the sculptor for Michael Jordan, ‘s spirit, a statue outside the United Center erected in the honor of the Chicago Bulls legend. Therefore, one could argue that she is quite experienced when it comes to sculpting the statues of various NBA legends. Although it is unclear how Rotblatt was given a chance to make the Kobe Bryant statue.
Fans express disapproval towards the design and look of the statues
While statues and other works of art are usually subjective and never really appreciated the same by all members of society, it would be safe to say that the majority of Kobe Bryant fans disapprove of his appearance in the statue. Some claimed that he looked like an old man and others pointed out that he appeared very skinny and resembled a drug addict.
just a regular old man
— 𝓛𝓛💫 (@HoodiiBron) February 10, 2024
he look like he on drugs bruh no way
— JorFraud 🌎☄️💕 (@cantguardbron) February 10, 2024
Fans even went far enough to claim that whoever made the statue needs to be imprisoned for doing such a bad job, “It just keeps getting worse bruh Whoever made this needs to be put in jail.”
It just keeps getting worse bruh
Whoever made this needs to be put in jail https://t.co/wPr8ImhYAi pic.twitter.com/QNUYDG0Vnb
— 𝓛𝓛💫 (@HoodiiBron) February 10, 2024
Although it would be unfair to even consider sending an old woman to prison for her questionable sculpting, there is no denying that a better job could have been done. Fans are left hoping that the upcoming statues will bear a greater resemblance to the late Kobe Bryant.