Yet it’s a Kobe Bryant jersey from his rookie season that has grabbed all the attention. It subsequently sold for a stunning $7 million at Sotheby’s, establishing a new mark for the most expensive game-worn sports jersey of all time. Such a staggering sale reinforces Bryant’s incredible effect on the game of basketball and the importance of his debut moments in the history of the sport.
Kobe Bryant’s NBA career began in earnest on November 3, 1996. He logged the most recent NBA debut of all-time in a regular season game, playing only 6 minutes and 22 seconds and finishing with one rebound and one block but no points on 0-1 shooting. Though things started out on the wrong foot, Bryant was soon on his way to becoming the gold standard. The next season, he made his first All-Star team. He was the runner-up for the Sixth Man of the Year award, averaging 15.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 0.9 steals.
That’s why this $7 million jersey is so remarkable — it’s as much about what it represents as its staggering price tag. It had been photo-matched to seven different games from Bryant’s rookie 1996-97 season. That’s hard to believe, especially considering his first preseason game was on October 16, 1996 and his NBA media day. Prior to this auction, the record high price for a Kobe Bryant collectible was an extraordinary $5,849,700. That’s especially true as it pertained to this record — for a game-worn, signed jersey from the 2007-08 season, the year he won his only MVP award.
This latest sale marks the jersey as the fourth-most-expensive game-worn sports jersey ever, trailing only behind iconic jerseys such as Babe Ruth’s “called shot” jersey, which fetched $24 million, and Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” jersey at $9.3 million.
Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, emphasized the uniqueness of debut games in an athlete’s career.
“Debut games are truly one-of-a-kind moments in an athlete’s career,” – Brahm Wachter.
Wachter continued to explain just how meaningful such moments are for athletes, like the late Kobe Bryant.
“They mark the nascency of an extraordinary journey, and for iconic athletes like Kobe Bryant, these milestones hold even more significance as they represent a singular moment in time that can never be replicated,” – Brahm Wachter.
The fact that this Bryant jersey is still selling demonstrates the power of his long-lasting legacy. It is a reminder of the growing appetite for sports memorabilia. As collectors continue to seek items tied to historic moments in sports history, this record-breaking auction sets a new benchmark for future sales and underscores Kobe Bryant’s enduring influence on basketball.
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