A Kobe Bryant Jersey From His Rookie Year Just Sold for $2.73 Million at Auction

As the 2022 NBA Finals get under way, an extremely rare Kobe Bryant jersey from the Black Mamba’s rookie season just sold at auction for a whopping $2.73 million.

On Sunday, an unspecified buyer went home with the top, the only known Bryant jersey photo-matched to playoff games. Worn during his 1996–97 rookie season with the Los Angeles Lakers, the jersey is in the team’s classic gold and purple colorway, with the number 8 front and center and Bryant’s name on the back. Two tags on the bottom show that the Laker wore a size 44.

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The jersey has conclusively been matched to five games from Bryant’s first season, including two playoff games. Those matches took place on April 11, April 13, April 17, May 8 and May 10, 1997. The latter two were Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Lakers and the Utah Jazz. Bryant shot a combined 28 points in the two games, foreshadowing his five championships and numerous playoff appearances to come.

SCP Auctions

The other three games to which the jersey has been matched were home victories against the Jazz, the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings. Bryant combined for 22 points and six assists in those matches— not too shabby for a player who joined the league right out of high school. Additionally, the Laker is wearing this specific jersey on his 1997 Skybox Z-Force trading card, one of which was auctioned off alongside the jersey.

While David Kohler, the CEO and president of SCP Auctions, which sold the more recent jersey, told TMZ last month that the photo-matched piece could reach prices up to $5 million, the total that it hammered down for is still quite impressive. Although last year, a signed jersey from Bryant’s rookie season sold for $3.69 million, becoming the most expensive basketball jersey of all time.

With Bryant considered one of the greatest basketball players in history, it seems likely that other pieces of his sports memorabilia will be setting new records soon enough.

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