Details are still being finalized for the "Celebration of Life for Kobe and Gianna Bryant" event set to be held at 10 a.m. Pacific time Monday at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, but fans and others who do not have a ticket are being asked to avoid the area altogether.
"If you don't have a ticket, please don't come down here," said Lee Zeidman, the president of Staples Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. Live. "This is going to be a celebration of life. Stay at home. Watch it with your family. Watch it at the office ... [but] if you do not have a ticket or parking pass, you're not going to get to the perimeter of Staples Center."
Fans were asked to register to purchase tickets, and the proceeds will benefit the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. But the memorial will not be shown on the large video screens outside the arena or at L.A. Live across the street.
Bryant and 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine killed in a helicopter crash Jan. 26 in Calabasas, California.
Several streets around the arena will be closed in the early morning. Zeidman said doors to the arena will open at 8 a.m. PT and that fans are encouraged to arrive early and be in their seats no later than 9:45. "We have to start on time due to the fact that we have a Clippers game coming in on the heels [of this event]," he said.
The Clippers are slated to play the Grizzlies at 7:30 PT Monday night.
Zeidman said that the official ticketing process closed Thursday, though final arrangements are still being made, and that the arena will be set to host 20,000 attendees.
"It's going to be a very emotional celebration of life," he said. "It's going to be a memorable one."
