Basketball fanatic and Oscar-winning actor/producer Spike Lee honored late Lakers legend Kobe Bryant at the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday, February 9.
The BlacKkKlansman director sported a custom purple Gucci suit with gold trim and Bryant's jersey number, 24, stitched on the lapels and the back of the suit jacket. He added purple glasses and opted for Nike sneakers on the red carpet, which he walked with his wife Tonya.
Lee directed the 2009 documentary Kobe: Doin’ Work for ESPN. The late athlete won an Oscar in 2018 for his short film Dear Basketball.
Bryant, along with his 13 year-old daughter Gianna and seven others, were killed on January 26 in a tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The exact cause of the crash is still unknown but intense fog is thought to have been a major factor.
The aircraft, a Sikorsky S-76B, slammed into a hill where it was “destroyed by impact forces and fire,” the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday.
A public memorial is scheduled to be held at Staples Center in Los Angeles for Bryant on February 24, a symbolic date honoring his jersey number 24 and daughter Gigi’s jersey number 2.
(Photo credit: Getty Images)