The Staples Center was packed on Monday for the special tribute to the late L.A. Lakers star and his 13-year-old daughter.
Stars came out in droves to the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday for the "Celebration of Life for Kobe and Gianna Bryant" service, honoring the former L.A. Lakers star and his 13-year-old daughter.
The special memorial ceremony, put on by the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe's Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, will honor the late NBA legend and his daughter. Kobe, Gianna, and seven others -- John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli, Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser and Ara Zobayan -- were killed in a tragic helicopter crash last month.
The Staples Center seats 20,000 people, but many more were seen outside of the venue ahead of the memorial.
Some of the first stars to arrive were Ciara, Russell Wilson, Bill Russell, Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union, and Gov. Gavin Newsom. The Kardashian family also was in attendance with Kim Kardashian West, Khloe Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Kanye West honoring the Bryants at the Staples Center. Snoop Dogg was also seen in the audience following his controversial back and forth with Gayle King over Bryant's legacy. Queen Latifah was also seen smiling fondly during Vanessa Bryant's emotional speech, and LL Cool J and Paula Abdul were spotted in the crowd.
Many athletes were also in attendance including former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, Caron Butler, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Jerry West, Byron Scott, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Daniel Theis, James Harden, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry, Phil Jackson, Lisa Leslie, Michael Phelps, Rick Fox, Nick Young, and Michael Jordan.
Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez also attended, sitting next to Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
The Hustlers star posted a tribute ahead of the service to the Bryants on social media, featuring her nails painted with a 2 and 24 in their honor.
"24 & 2 ??," she captioned the photo.
Beyonce Knowles Carter opened the event with an emotional rendition of her song, "XO."
"I'm here because I love Kobe and this was one of his favorite songs," Beyonce told the crowd before starting the song over and encouraging the audience to sing along with. She then transitioned into her hit song, "Halo."
The GRAMMY winner wore a bold golden suit in honor of the Lakers star and her nails read "Kobe" on one side and "Gigi" on the other.
Her husband, JAY-Z, was also in attendance.
Vanessa Bryant was spotted inside the event with her mother Sofia. Following Beyonce's performance, the singer directly addressed Vanessa as she nodded and smiled through tears. Also sitting with Vanessa was her daughter Natalia and Vanessa’s sister Sophie. Baby Bianka was sitting on Natalia’s lap.
Jimmy Kimmel then spoke to the crowd, joking, "You picked the wrong person to guide you through, I'm going to tell you that right now."
The late night comedian got incredibly choked up while speaking at the event, saying, "I've been trying to come up with something positive to take away from this and it was hard because there isn't much. But the best thing I think I was able to come up with is this -- gratitude. It seems to me that all we can do is be grateful for the time we had with them and the time we have left with each other."
Women's basketball stars Sabrina Ionescu and Diana Taurasi spoke at the event. UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma spoke to the crowd about his experiences with Kobe and Gigi, who publicly declared her desire to play for his team. Rob Pelinka, the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers and the godfather of Gigi, was also one of the speakers at the event, revealing Kobe sent one of his last texts to him from the helicopter.
After honoring Kobe at this year's GRAMMYs the day of the crash, Alicia Keys returned to the Staples Center to performer her rendition of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata."
Inside the event, guests were met with 35,000 red roses surrounding the stage underneath giant photos of the Bryant family on a digital screen. Attendees were given T-shirts with Kobe and Gianna's numbers -- 2 and 24 -- and images on them.
ET's coverage began at 8 a.m. PT, with Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner live from the Staples Center. Starting at 10:00 a.m. PT, ET will stream the entire memorial, uninterrupted, on our YouTube Channel and ET Live. You can watch at ETLive.com and on the ET Live app, which you can download on your Roku, Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV. ET Live also streams on Pluto TV and Samsung TV Plus and via CBS All Access.
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