More than six years since his death, Kobe Bryant’s legacy remains as strong as ever in the basketball world. But if it lives in one central location, that’s Los Angeles.
Even more specifically, it lives in the house that Kobe built, Staples Center, now known as Crypto.com Arena.
So what better place for Nike to host the 2026 Mamba Invitational than at LA LIVE at Peacock Place, steps away from the stadium where he went from man to immortal.
The setting was perfect.
Hundreds of basketball fanatics came to this free event to watch some of the nation’s top high school boys and girls compete for two days in this outdoor tournament. These up-and-comers took center stage, playing on a Mamba-inspired hardwood court with Crypto, and the Kobe statue in front, as the backdrop.
In the girls’ championship game on Sunday, Team Relentless took on Team Resilience. The game matched the intensity one would want for a game that carried the Mamba moniker.
Both teams played hard, with GG Banks scoring in bunches and Caroline Bradley grabbing big boards for Team Resilience. For Team Relentless, Sydney Savoury was producing in the backcourt while Jordyn Palmer took care of frontcourt duties. The game was tightly contested and came down to the wire, but in the end, Palmer scored a bucket late to secure the win and the title for Team Relentless.
After the game, Swish Appeal asked Palmer about coming through in the clutch, and here’s what she said:
I worked so hard throughout my life and just to be able to come out here and take that last shot for my team. It paid off. So I’m just glad that it came to my hands and I went up strong and finished it.
Palmer had a fantastic game. Her determination and hunger for success were as clear as day. This competition mattered to her and everyone on the court.
And playing at this high of a level in this invitational named after Kobe made the win even sweeter for Palmer, as she explained:
Kobe’s been my all-time favorite player since I was growing up. So to be able to come in here and get MVP and the dub, it means a lot.
In true Mamba Mentality, Palmer won’t be relishing this victory for long; her work is far from finished. “I gotta go get a chip for Overtime Select,” Palmer said.
While the basketball was the main event, this weekend was a love letter to everything that is Kobe.
There was a mural being designed at LA LIVE, exclusive merch for fans to acquire and an art installation titled “Sole Obsession” created by Troy Murray, which featured 13 Kobe outsoles from models of Bryant’s ever-popular Nike signature shoe, from the Kobes 1-11 to the Kobe AD.
The final outsole was a previously unseen prototype that’s being labeled as the next chapter of Kobe footwear.
With Kobes being as popular as ever, Nike continues to add to the legacy of his sneaker line, and these future stars were ecstatic to wear some new Kobe’s all weekend long.
As Sydney Savoury emphasized to Swish Appeal:
Obviously, him being the player that he is, being able to represent him and his legacy this weekend, it’s amazing. It’s everything that you want in a basketball player.
Kobe wasn’t just a great Laker who won titles for a highly-popular NBA team. For millions of people, he was the patron saint of hustle, hard work and determination. From blue-collar to white-collar workers, we can all exude the Mamba Mentality and put our best foot forward in our chosen craft.
Bryant may be gone, but the girls who participated in the Mamba Invitational brought a level of intensity to these games that would’ve made him proud. That made the event not a celebration of Bryant, but of these players and the promising future of the sport.
