OC supervisors approve Aug. 24 as Kobe Bryant Day

SANTA ANA, Calif. - Orange County supervisors voted Tuesday to declare Aug. 24 as Kobe Bryant Day.

PHOENIX, AZ - FEBRUARY 19: Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers adjusts his jersey during the NBA game against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center on February 19, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Lakers 102-90. NOTE TO USER: Use

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Bryant was born on Aug. 23 and wore the number 24 in his playing days, said Orange County Board Chairwoman Michelle Steel, explaining why she settled on Aug. 24 as the date to honor the former Lakers great who died Jan.26 in a helicopter crash that also killed his daughter and seven others.

Steel said Bryant, who lived in Newport Beach, was a "treasured member of our community," who "inspired so many men and women to pursue their dreams and never give up."

Supervisor Don Wagner, in an apparent reference to Bryant's 2003 sexual assault civil case in Colorado, which Bryant ultimately settled, said the former NBA star had his ups and downs in his lifetime.

"Kobe Bryant's life, like each one of us who ever lived, present moments to celebrate and to condemn," Wagner said.

"Kobe, like all of us, faced challenges, challenges of his own making and challenges thrown at him by life, that he overcome. Today, we celebrate the effort in overcoming those challenges."

Wagner added, that, "if the bad in any life were to forever disqualify" then no one would be able to celebrate "the good."

"So we strike a balance, and on balance here the good recognized in the resolution brought here is worth celebrating," Wagner said.

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