Kobe Bryant Day: Longtime fan crafts custom quilt to honor Lakers legend

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Kobe Bryant fans across Southern California are once again preparing to pay tribute to the Lakers legend on Aug. 24 – known as “Kobe Day” for the numbers he wore, 8 and 24.

One talented fan was inspired by Bryant’s competitive spirit to dedicate himself to a creative way to honor him.

Nate Robbins spent several years working on his one-of-a-kind Kobe quilt, which was recently displayed at the Long Beach Quilt Festival.

“I think Kobe was the benchmark, he was the gold standard for my generation,” Robbins said. “I kinda missed (Michael) Jordan but Kobe was our benchmark for excellence and he embodied that competitive spirit, that intensity of dedicating one’s self to their craft. He was always trying to push the envelope.”

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He says response to his quilt at the Long Beach festival was overwhelmingly positive. That was a rewarding payoff for work that took a long time to complete.

“I was just not willing to compromise the original intentions. So I wasn’t going to settle until I had what I set out to accomplish.”

Next Nate plans to take the quilt to an even bigger festival in Houston this November.

He hopes the quilt could one day be on display somewhere in Los Angeles – for all to enjoy.

The experience has already given him so much.

“Looking at the final piece can sometimes make you emotional because I went through a lot and maybe wasn’t in the greatest headspace when I began it to be honest with you. Just gotta keep going, it’s a marathon.”