When Michael Sadri saw a crowd gathered in LA Live Plaza he knew it was time to honor NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
There was a sign on a small trash can that read “#SayKobe You know what to do.”
Monday was the 23-year-old’s first time visiting the makeshift Kobe Bryant memorial near the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles since his idol’s death. Bryant, his daughter and seven others died in helicopter crash Sunday, sending fans across the globe into a state of shock and mourning.
The trash can in the plaza symbolized a gesture practiced in classrooms and offices across the country.
“The first thing I thought was ‘I should shoot one, for Kobe,’” Sadri said.
Sadri balled up a sheet of paper and mimicked Bryant’s signature fade-away jumper while yelling “Kobe.”
Sadri told CNN Monday he shot about five shots, claiming to make three. He wasn’t the only one either, most folks at the plaza took shots for Kobe Bryant, too.
Shooting a piece of trash – usually balled up paper – into a trash can while yelling “Kobe” is a past time for both adults and children who grew up watching Bryant. So the fact that someone set up a trash can at the Bryant memorial is a testament to his cultural influence.
“Damn this is LA,” Sadri said. “Everyone is gathering around for the death of an icon and everyone is shooting having fun.”
“We may not have ever met Kobe, but it’s heavier on all Angelenos because he was our biggest star of the 2000s and 2010s and in Laker history too.”
