Highlights from Kobe Bryant’s Memorial: Music, Shaq’s Joke, and M J’s New Crying Meme

The public memorial for KOBE and GIANNA BRYANT was yesterday at the Staples Center in L.A.  There were more than 20,000 family members, friends, and fans in attendance.

The whole ceremony was filled with symbolism.  The date was 2/24 - Gianna wore number 2, and of course Kobe wore number 24 for the second half of his career.

Tickets were priced at three tiers:  $224 each, two for $224, and $24.02 each . . . based on seat location.  Proceeds from the tickets will be donated to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. There was a rose for every point Kobe scored in the NBA - that's 33,643 -placed around the center stage, and attendees got a shirt featuring Kobe and Gianna, plus a program and a ticket.

Here are some other highlights from the memorial:

1.  There were a ton of basketball legends there, including Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Phil Jackson, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Elgin Baylor, Paul Pierce, Gregg Popovich, Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, Doc Rivers, Steph Curry, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Scottie Pippen, Draymond Green, Russell Westbrook, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

2.Beyoncé performed "XO" and "Halo".  She said she was there because she loved Kobe, and that "XO" was one of his favorite songs.  (Video)

Some of the other celebrities in attendance included Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and Snoop Dogg.

3. Jimmy Kimmel hosted the memorial, and among other things, he said, quote, "I've been trying to come up with something positive to take away from this, and it's hard because there isn't much.  The best thing 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 have with them.  And for the time we have left with each other.  And that's all." (Video)

4. Kobe's widow Vanessa gave two powerful eulogies.  Of Gianna, she said, quote, "Gigi was sunshine.  She brightened up my day every day.  She was our shepherd. She was daddy's girl, but I know she loves her mama.  And she would always tell me and show me how much she loved me.  She was one of my very best friends.  She loved cake.  She loved putting a smile on everyone's face."  (Video).  And of Kobe, she said, quote, "Kobe was known as a fierce competitor on the basketball court, but to me, he was Kobe-Kobe, my boo-boo, my bay-boo. Kobe and I have been together since I was 17-and-a-half years old.  I was his first girlfriend, his first love, his wife, his best friend.

5. WNBA superstar Diana Taurasi was given the nickname "White Mamba" by Kobe himself, and in her speech, she said, quote, "He made it OK to play with an edge that borderlined-on crazy."  (Video)

6. Michael Jordan started crying when he spoke, and that reminded people, including Michael himself, of the crying-Michael meme.  He said, quote, "Now, he's got me. . . I got to look at another crying-meme for the next . . . "I told my wife I wasn't going to do this because I didn't want to see that for the next three or four years.  That is what Kobe does to me.  He knows how to get to you in a way that affects you personally, even if he's being a pain in the [butt]."  (Video)

7.  Lakers GM Rob Pelinka said that he was in church when he found out that the helicopter had crashed.  He said that Kobe had been texting him from the helicopter, about helping John Altobelli's daughter get an internship. John, his wife, and their other daughter Alyssa also died in the crash.  (Video)

8.  Christina Aguilera gave an emotional performance of "Ave Maria".  (Video)  And Alicia Keys performed Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata".  (Video)

You can watch the entire memorial service, here.