Chapter 1431 Sculpture (2/2)

Before the auction, Li Du had been interested in not only the manor but also another bungalow. Or rather, he was interested in something inside the bungalow.

It was a sculpture of two men. Specifically, it had a marble floor, a marble basketball hoop, and two basketball players wearing shirts with the numbers 34 and 8 respectively.

The sculpture was practically life-sized. Those who were into basketball would know that it was a sculpture of two top American basketball pros, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

Los Angeles had a super team in the US professional basketball league, The Los Angeles Lakers. O'Neal and Bryant used to be the aces of that team. The two had teamed up to win three consecutive championships for the Lakers.

However, those two people were superstars who had a lot of pride and ambition. In the end, because of an underhand trick that the team owner played, and the character of those two players, they eventually parted ways on court and put an end to their teamwork.

Previously, when Li Du checked out the bungalow, he had found the statue amongst the mess in the chaotic basement. The sculpture was definitely the work of a master. The marble statue was extremely realistic and valuable, and worth more than the entire house.

The sculptor did not want to use it to make money; otherwise, he would have sold it a long time ago instead of keeping it in the basement.

There were some words engraved on the marble base, describing the reason for making the statue and why it was left behind.

The sculptor was a basketball fan. As a Los Angeles resident, he was naturally a loyal supporter of the Los Angeles Lakers. His favorite players were the Lakers aces, Kobe and O'Neal.

After the Lakers won the third championship, the sculptor had the idea of ​​making a statue for the group and wanted to celebrate the team's success in creating a legacy.

However, just a year later, before the sculpture was finished, Kobe and O'Neal had fallen out. The latter transferred to other teams, and the Los Angeles Lakers fell into a trough.

As a loyal supporter of the team, the sculptor was very upset, but he endured the pain to complete the statue, in the hope that one day his two favorite stars would be able to resolve their conflict and team up again.

He left a message on the marble floor, hoping to wait for the day to come. He would then gift the statue to the Lakers and make it into a good story.

However, for unknown reasons, the sculptor did not return. The sculpture stayed in the dark basement until Li Du discovered it.

Li Du guessed that the sculptor must have been very upset. Now O'Neal had retired and it would be impossible for him to team up with Kobe ever again.

In addition, Kobe had, in the first half of this year when playing against the Golden State Warriors, injured his heel in the game. It was a very serious injury, and outsiders speculated that he might also retire.

Previously, Li Du had called up Kobe to express his wishes for a speedy recovery. However, Kobe was a stubborn and proud person. He did not need consolation. Li Du was unsure what happened to him later.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

If he got the sculpture, he felt that he would be able to gift it to either Kobe or O'Neal. The two fell out big time that year. However, after O'Neal retired, the relationship between the two improved and it looked like any rivalry was gone.

Bringing out the sculpture from the basement was not easy. Li Du rented a crane for that purpose.

Assembled, the sculpture was a basketball hoop stand sculpted atop the marble floor. Kobe was positioned sideways, and O'Neal held his hand up high and looked to be just about to jump. It was as though his next move was supposed to be a pass and then a catch to dunk.

The sculpture was tall and big. It had been made to the scale of Kobe and O'Neal. One of them was 1.98 meters tall and the other was 2.16 meters. It was a true masterpiece.