Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant's reach extends farther than yours.
NBA superstars are known to have a fanbase that spans across the globe, but Shaq and Kobe are officially pushing the limits of international stardom. Both apparently have monstrous statues that tower over everyone in China.
Here's a look at the Black Mamba's iconic sculpture, which appears to stand outside of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts' Sculpture Museum, h/t Lakers Nation:
Whomever created this demonstrative work of art captured Kobe's essence almost perfectly.
Here stands a stone-faced baller, looking off into the great abyss, probably contemplating his future or wondering if his ring-to-finger ratio will ever become overwhelming.
He's not alone either. And no, I'm not talking about Stephen Marbury.
Shaq has a statue that was raised in his honor as well, and it is equally as incredible and seems to be beyond enormous, h/t reddit.com:
The Los Angeles Times' Bill Plaschke was in Beijing for the Olympics in 2008 and reported the statue stands at 50 feet and was "part of his [Shaq's] endorsement deal with a Chinese sportswear company."
The only thing that could have made this statue better is if Shaq was also holding and/or taking a swig of a can of Soda Shaq along with that ball. Perhaps in the near future they can fashion some object-based adjustments to account for Shaq Daddy's latest business venture.
This gigantic statue is perfect otherwise. The size of it appears unnatural, but then again, the 7'1", 325-pound big man was never one to look organic.
Shame on me for not having a visit to Kobe and Shaq's oversized clones on my bucket list. Shame on us all.
Fortunately, there's still time to resurrect such a travesty. Something tells me these two structures aren't going anywhere anytime soon....
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
