A Nuggets fan was hired by Nike to paint a Kobe Bryant mural in Venice Beach. ‘It was an honor’

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Denver-based artist Chris Carlson painted a new Kobe Bryant mural at the Venice Beach basketball court. (Chuck Schilken / Los Angeles Times)

Artist Chris Carlson lives in Denver. He is a Nuggets fan. He may not have been the most obvious choice to paint a mural in Los Angeles based on a Lakers legend.

“My relationship with the Lakers is complicated,” Carlson told The Times in an email interview. “Being from Denver and growing up as a Nuggets fan, I watched the Lakers knock us out of the playoffs every season during the [Carmelo Anthony] years.”

Carlson is, however, a huge admirer of Kobe Bryant, so he jumped at the chance to paint a Nike-commissioned mural highlighting Bryant and his Black Mamba persona beside the Venice Beach basketball courts.

“I am definitely a Kobe fan!” Carlson wrote. “His skills were unmatched and his work ethic was inspirational. A lot of his philosophies about working toward being a better athlete can be applied to becoming a better artist. Things like embracing discomfort and pushing past your perceived limits really resonated with me.”

Read more: Want to visit Kobe Bryant murals? Here are 24 in Los Angeles and 8 in Orange County

Carlson and Indiana-based artist Nate Baranowski finished painting the larger-than-life mural this month. It shows Bryant with a fierce scowl on his face. A giant snake appears to burst through the painting and wrap itself around Bryant, with their heads ending up side by side. The top features Nike’s Swoosh logo and the slogan: “This isn’t the year of the snake. This is the year of the Mamba.”

Mike Asner, who runs the KobeMural.com website, posted a video of the mural on the site’s Instagram page this week and the post blew up, garnering 2 million views and 187,000 likes in three days.

“That’s not normal,” said Asner, who estimates a typical post featuring a Bryant mural gets between 150,000 and 300,000 views and 10,000 to 15,000 likes.

Read more: Vanessa Bryant announces Kobe and Gianna mural book right before 5-year anniversary of helicopter crash

Asner said he thinks people are attracted to “the realism and 3D nature” of the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nuggets-fan-hired-nike-paint-214602002.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2025-01-25 21:46:00

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