This is awesome … an outdoor basketball court in Los Angeles got a complete makeover this week — with images of Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Magic Johnson, and other Lakers legends being painted all over it.
The artist behind the work, Gustavo Zermeno Jr., tells TMZ Sports he initially linked up with Veniceball and Project Backboard to repaint the court at Southside Christian Church in Inglewood to try to give it some TLC.
The Lakers theme was Zermeno Jr.’s idea … saying he’s been wanting to do this for years and “the pastor of the church is a huge Laker fan so it worked out perfectly.”
Zermeno — who’s been painting professionally since 2016 — tells us the focal point was Kobe (his favorite Laker) and other players who had their jerseys retired.
He also wanted to pay homage to Pau Gasol … saying he “deserves to be up there with them.”
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And, after working alongside his friend Nick Flax for 2 weeks (10 hours per day using $3,000 worth of paint), he delivered a masterpiece.
Besides Bryant and Gasol, the court features Shaq, Magic, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Chick Hearn, Jerry West, and Jerry Buss in front of the downtown L.A. skyline and Staples Center.
“It means the world really,” Zermeno said of the piece. “It’s also right next door to the new Clippers arena so it also shows this is still a Lakers town haha.”
The unveiling marks the start of Zermeno’s upcoming nonprofit organization called “Heart In The Paint” which will focus on the betterment of young lives through sports, art, and education.
Good stuff!
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