The image is iconic — Kobe Bryant letting out a roar while tugging on his gold Lakers jersey after scoring 49 points during a playoff win over the Denver Nuggets on April 23, 2008.
It has been used in numerous murals around Southern California, including one that is being painted in larger-than-life form on the side of a future Eat Fantastic restaurant on the 700 block of North Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach.
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This particular painting, however, is a little different from the others, and from the original image itself. Bryant’s intensity is still there. His pose is exactly the same. He is still wearing a No. 24 jersey.
But in this version, that jersey is not gold with “Lakers” spelled across the chest in purple letters.
It’s white, with “Dodgers” across the chest in blue letters.
Gustavo Zermeño Jr. altered an iconic image of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant for a Dodgers mural he is painting in Redondo Beach. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
The altered version of the iconic image is just one portion of a sprawling mural paying tribute to the Dodgers’ 2024 World Series championship. It’s on the north-facing side of a former Carl’s Jr. building that will open later this year as part of the growing Eat Fantastic chain in the Los Angeles area.
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The mural was conceived by artist Gustavo Zermeño Jr. and Eat Fantastic owner Efthemios Alexander Tsiboukas. It features some of the key figures from the Dodgers’ title run — players Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani (with his beloved dog Decoy) and rapper Ice Cube, who is shown riding in a classic Dodger blue convertible as he did when he performed before Game 3 of the World Series.
And then there’s the late Lakers legend Bryant, whose inclusion in the piece was a must, Zermeño said.
Read more: Want to visit Kobe Bryant murals? Here are 24 in Los Angeles and 8 in Orange County
“Each [Eat Fantastic] location has a Kobe mural, at least the ones that have a good wall,” said Zermeño, who is a huge fan of both the Dodgers and Bryant. “And for this location, [Tsiboukas] wanted to create something for the Dodgers’ championship team. That’s why Kobe has the Dodger jersey on, you know, staying on theme with the locations having a Kobe mural.”
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Zermeño said the original idea was to paint Bryant wearing a Dodgers baseball jersey, as he did while attending the team’s games over the years before his shocking death in January 2020.
Lakers’ Kobe Bryant celebrates a three–pointer…