Mr. Bryant was part of Southern California’s Latino community, raising four black Mexican-American daughters with his wife, Vanessa, who grew up in Orange County. During a nationally broadcast game against the Phoenix Suns in 2010, when Arizona was at the height of a debate over a bill that made the failure to carry immigration documents a crime, Ms. Bryant smiled as she wore a T-shirt that read, “Do I Look Illegal?” Mr. Bryant often referred to his wife as “mamacita,” an affectionate display of playful romance.

Even before his death, Mr. Bryant’s image was featured on cobijas San Marcos, fuzzy illustrated blankets that are often sold on the streets here. He was the subject of many corridos, or traditional Mexican ballads, celebrating his prowess on the court as a source of inspiration. His image hangs on the walls of dozens of Latino-owned auto repair and barber shops throughout the city.

Mr. Bryant, who spent part of his childhood in Italy and spoke Italian, told a reporter from Univision that he largely learned his Spanish by watching telenovelas and “Sábado Gigante,” a popular game show, with his wife and her mother.

“A big part of Kobe’s story is that he was always a little bit of an outsider,” said Shea Serrano, a sportswriter and the author of “Basketball (and Other Things): A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated.” “He became a global superstar in Los Angeles and adopted his hometown, which is hugely Latino. And if you talk to enough Latinos, I think you would get that we all feel the same sort of thing in our bones, that we’re really treated somewhat as outsiders.”