On June 5, 2023, the Los Angeles Lakers and representatives of bibigo® foods hosted their inaugural ‘Lakers Town’ community event in Koreatown. The event featured a new Lakers mural by artist, Jonas Never, and appearances by Los Angles Lakers legends, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy, A.C. Green, and Robert Horry, as fans and community members celebrated the unveiling of a mural that celebrates some of the dynamic duos in Lakers history.
According to the Lakers, the partnership with bibigo is intended to create a lasting impact and change in communities such as Koreatown in efforts to inspire creativity, vibrance, and a culture of excellence that is true to the diverse and inclusive neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
The Lakers and bibigo commissioned local artist, Jonas Never of Culver City, to paint a 140-feet wide, 38-feet tall Lakers-inspired mural. This newest creation recognizes and pairs dynamic duos of past Lakers championship teams. The mural featuring Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar, young Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, veteran Kobe Bryant and Paul Gasol, and Anthony Davis and Lebron James is proudly displayed in Koreatown, the largest Korean neighborhood in L.A. The project acknowledges the flourishing dynamic between Los Angeles and this community.
The Lakers Town event highlighted a major announcement from the Lakers Youth Foundation (LYF) and bibigo foods, who vowed to contribute significant resources to the Koreatown Youth Community Center (KYCC), which generously hosts a bi-monthly food bank for local students and members of the community.
Speakers included Kiesha Nix, vice president of Charitable Affairs & Lakers Youth Foundation, Mark Goldman, Schwan’s Consumer Brands vice president of Communications and Sports Partnerships, Joong Hee Yoo, CJ Foods Ethnic Sales Division vice president of Sales, Heather Hutt, L.A. City councilwoman for the 10th District, Holly Mitchell, L.A. County Supervisor, and Jonas Never, the muralist.
Jabbar spoke to the audience regarding the mural. “It’s really wonderful to see this mural, although I’m a little bit jealous that Kobe got two images, and me and Magic are over there on the side like that,” he kidded. “The image is extraordinary. Thank you, it’s a real pleasure to be a part of this and to know efforts are expanding.” Jabbar said he has been involved with previous benevolent efforts with the Lakers organization and sees the impact made on young people. “If you haven’t seen it, I have. The fruit of our good work is the young people who are smiling and doing good things with their lives, the former “Showtime” caption said. Jabbar, a UCLA graduate, mentioned his interest in helping create future engineers and scientists.
Nix spoke of the importance of giving back and acknowledged bibigo and the community partners involved in the event. “We didn’t want just to unveil the beautiful mural, we wanted to do something to create a lasting impact in the Korean community,” she said. Like the dynamic Lakers duo-themed mural, Nix highlighted organizations, Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) and the Koreatown Youth Community Center (KYCC), which she describes as a dynamic duo of positive impact.
The event included a bibigo food truck, desserts, a health and wellness clinic from the Lakers Youth Foundation for local children, giveaway items and other fun activities focused on giving back to youth and community. Children from the KYCC and HOLA were on hand to help celebrate the inaugural event. The Laker Foundation’s staff worked intensively with the youth participants with various fun and motivating exercises. One of the instructors, Morgan “Coach Mo” Fennell said the foundation offers health and fitness options to young people in underserved communities who may not have access to costly gyms and after-school sports programs. “We come out and help them understand that whether you play a sport or not, health and fitness are important. Whether they want to be the next Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, or the President, [fitness] is key for them,” he said.
Laker legends, Green, Horry, Worthy, and Jabbar won multiple championships for the Lakers. They were welcomed by the fans who remembered their amazing careers and came to view the mural and meet them. The former NBA greats strolled around the campus, participated in photo ops, and interacted with adoring fans while interviewing with media, such as ESPN. Worthy and Green stopped by the bibigo food truck, sampling some of the tasty dishes that make the Lakers’ community partner a top global Korean cuisine brand.
Laker Town also offered games, music, and fun. At the end of the event, Nix took reflection as she stood in front of the mural. “This was awesome,” she said.
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