For the first time since it opened in 1927, Anaheim’s oldest park has a basketball court – and it’s not just a couple of hoops and some lines on the pavement.
Pearson Park, just a few miles north of Disneyland, is now home to a “dream court” commemorating NBA legend Kobe Bryant. Tiles in the royal purple and gold of the Los Angeles Lakers form the playing surface; at center court, a white circle surrounded by purple butterflies is inscribed with the names of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. On one side of the court is a large butterfly-shaped mural bearing their faces.
Spectators watch a basketball played on the new purple and gold, basketball Dream Court in Pearson Park in Anaheim, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. The court honors Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash. The butterfly sculpture by artist Brian Peterson, is of Gigi and Kobe sitting courtside at a game. The court and sculpture were funded by former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman’s charity and Vanessa Bryant’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Rita Gonzales of Anaheim takes photos of the butterfly sculpture showing Gigi and Kobe sitting courtside at a game done by artist Brian Peterson, as her husband, Eddie Gonzales holds their dog, Tia, on the new purple and gold, basketball Dream Court in Pearson Park in Anaheim, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. The court honors Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash and was funded by former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman’s charity and Vanessa Bryant’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Spectators watch a basketball played on the new purple and gold, basketball Dream Court in Pearson Park in Anaheim, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, which honors Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash. The butterfly sculpture by artist Brian Peterson, is of Gigi and Kobe sitting courtside at a game. The court and sculpture were funded by former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman’s charity and Vanessa Bryant’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A young basketball player shoot hoops on the new purple and gold, basketball Dream Court in Pearson Park in Anaheim, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, which honors Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash. A butterfly sculpture by artist Brian Peterson, is of Gigi and Kobe sitting courtside at a game adjacent to the court. The court and sculpture were funded by former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman’s charity and Vanessa Bryant’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The backside of the butterfly sculpture which has quotes and a description by Gigi and Kobe Bryant while the front side shows them sitting courtside at a game and overlooks the new purple and gold, basketball Dream Court in Pearson Park in Anaheim, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. The court honors Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash and was funded by former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman’s charity and Vanessa Bryant’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A basketball player makes his way across the new purple and gold, basketball Dream Court in Pearson Park in Anaheim, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, which honors Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash. A butterfly sculpture by artist Brian Peterson, is of Gigi and Kobe sitting courtside at a game sits adjacent to the court. The court and sculpture were funded by former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman’s charity and Vanessa Bryant’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Eddie and Rita Gonzales of Anaheim along with their dog, Tia, walk on the new purple and gold, basketball Dream Court in Pearson Park in Anaheim, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. The court honors Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash and was funded by former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman’s charity and Vanessa Bryant’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A pick-up basketball game is played in Pearson Park in Anaheim on the new purple and gold, high school regulation size, 50-by-84 feet, basketball Dream Court, which honors Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash. Adjacent to the court is a butterfly sculpture by artist Brian Peterson, of Kobe and Gigi sitting courtside at a game. The court and sculpture were funded by former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman’s charity and Vanessa Bryant’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visitors take photos in front of the butterfly sculpture showing Gigi and Kobe sitting courtside at a game which was done by artist Brian Peterson, which sits adjacent to the new purple and gold, basketball Dream Court in Pearson Park in Anaheim, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. The court honors Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash and was funded by former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman’s charity and Vanessa Bryant’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visitors take photos of the butterfly sculpture showing Gigi and Kobe sitting courtside at a game which is adjacent to the new purple and gold, basketball Dream Court in Pearson Park in Anaheim, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, The court honors Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash and was funded by former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman’s charity and Vanessa Bryant’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Spectators watch a basketball played on the new purple and gold, basketball Dream Court in Pearson Park in Anaheim, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. The court honors Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash. The butterfly sculpture by artist Brian Peterson, is of Gigi and Kobe sitting courtside at a game. The court and sculpture were funded by former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman’s charity and Vanessa Bryant’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A young basketball player makes his way down the new purple and gold, basketball Dream Court in Pearson Park in Anaheim, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, which honors Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a 2020 helicopter crash. A butterfly sculpture by artist Brian Peterson, is of Gigi and Kobe sitting courtside at a game adjacent to the court. The court and sculpture were funded by former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman’s charity and Vanessa Bryant’s Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who was a budding basketball talent, were among nine people killed in a January 2020 helicopter crash in the San Fernando Valley.
The Pearson Park court was funded by former WNBA player and NBA coach Nancy Lieberman’s nonprofit, which has built 110 “dream courts” around the country, and it was created in cooperation with the Bryant family’s Mamba and Mambacita Foundation.
The ribbon was officially cut on the court Sunday, which would have been Gianna Bryant’s 16th birthday, and it’s now available for the public to use.
Vanessa Bryant called the new court a “labor of love” in a post on her Instagram account Monday, and in a news release from the city, Anaheim Mayor Harrry Sidhu said it “will introduce a new generation of Anaheim kids to the joy of basketball.”
