Metro paid tribute to basketball legend Kobe Bryant’s last game by changing the name of the Pico station, which services the Staples Center, to the Kobe station. 

I visited the station yesterday to see Metro’s nod to the athlete, whose career with the Lakers spanned two decades. By the time I stopped by, at least a third of the Kobe signs had been removed, presumably by fans as souvenirs. The ones that remained were a bit too small to fully cover the station’s original name. 

If you didn’t pass through the Kobe station yesterday to the Staples Center, you unfortunately missed seeing the temporary name, as it was for one day only. 

The Kobe signs were too small to conceal the station’s original name.

Metro riders wait at the temporarily named Kobe station as a blue line train pulls up to the platform.

Many of the Kobe signs were already removed by early afternoon.