Kobe Bryant Memorials At Staples Center Are Brought To His Family

LOS ANGELES, CA — Eight days after basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, died along with seven others in a helicopter crash, the items left by fans outside the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles are being cleared in order to be brought to the Bryant family.

Kobe Bryant's wife, Vanessa, asked for the items left by grieving fans in the wake of the tragedy, CNN reported. Those items include T-shirts, basketballs, stuffed animals and untold other memorabilia.

Perishable items, like flowers and other plants, will be composted and scattered around the Staples Center and the surrounding L.A. Live complex. The work began after the Super Bowl Sunday evening.

In the hours after news of Bryant's death swept Los Angeles last Sunday, Jan. 26, fans began to gather outside the Staples Center, the arena Bryant called home for most of his storied 20-year career with the Lakers.

Workers Monday morning were seen clearing the items away, as bouquets of flowers sat in huge piles and dozens of basketballs were corralled inside metal barricades.

It will take days to remove the thousands of items that were dropped off, the Staples Center president told CNN.

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• Kobe Bryant, Daughter, 7 Others Killed In Helicopter Crash