The KB24 NFT art collection quietly opened for presale reservations to the general public and is positioned to be the one of the biggest NFT drops this year. The team behind The KB24 NFT collection is creating a new space for Kobe Bryant fans to memorialize the legend, while also contributing all of the proceeds to the Bryant family’s foundation — the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation. KB24.com will make available the one-of-a-kind, limited edition KB24 NFT drop.
Away from the court, out of his jersey, and well before the peak of his decades-long career, Kobe Bryant hadn’t yet earned the title “Black Mamba.” It took years of serious dedication, drive, sweat, and long hours to become the star that he was. More than two decades later, Kobe is not only remembered as a basketball legend, but also for his tragic and untimely death in January 2020. His daughter, Gigi, lost her budding life to the same helicopter accident.
All proceeds from The KB24 NFT drop on KB24.com will be donated to Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation — the nonprofit founded in memory of Kobe and Gianna Bryant. The foundation is dedicated to creating a positive impact for underserved athletes by providing funding and sports programming to enable participation in school and/or league sports that enrich socio-economic and physical development. The foundation is also dedicated to Kobe and Gigi’s vision of creating a world where young women have equal opportunity to pursue their dreams through sports and life. The foundation honors their legacy by funding programs that support their vision. And KB24 seeks to aid in that mission.
NFT art has been on the rise in 2021. Perhaps the most famous example of the fact that NFTs are big bucks in today’s world is the recent sale of Jack Dorsey’s first ever tweet — “just setting up my twttr” — for $2.9 million. Bridge Oracle CEO Sina Estavi wasn’t simply “flexing” when he purchased that particular NFT. Instead, he was counting on the idea that the non-fungible token would appreciate with time. This expensive NFT was an investment, not an incredible waste of money because just as NFTs can be bought, they can also be sold.
How Will the Kobe Bryant NFT Project Benefit Future Athletes?
Kobe’s own non-profit organization, formerly known as the Mamba Sports Foundation, was established for one simple purpose: to enable more young people to participate in sports. While many are able to participate in a wide variety of extracurricular activities, many children from underprivileged backgrounds are left behind. Kobe’s foundation sought to change that, by establishing programs and providing funding to allow kids from communities that would otherwise be forgotten, to find their own athletic passions. Considering that participation in sports increases mental and physical health, as well as academic performance, that is an incredibly important cause.
Since female sports are often neglected, the foundation also placed a particular emphasis on young women.
After both Kobe and his daughter Gianna — often called Gigi, and also, of course, nicknamed Mambacita after her father, “Mamba” — died so suddenly in a helicopter crash, Kobe’s widow Vanessa took it upon herself to carry on that legacy through the foundation. The non-profit has since been renamed to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation. That’s apt not only because it honors Gigi as well as Kobe, but also because Gigi was a very promising and tenacious young athlete herself, and the foundation is hard at work to open doors for girls and young women.
