The jersey Kobe Bryant wore in his NBA debut sold for $7 million in auction on Thursday.
Per auction house Sotheby’s, the sale sets a record for any memorabilia tied to the Los Angeles Lakers legend, who died in a helicopter crash in 2020 along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.
The $7 million figure surpasses the previous record of $5.85 million paid for Bryant’s signed, game-worn jersey from the 2007-08 season in which he won his only NBA Most Valuable Player award.
Sotheby’s said that the jersey has been photo-matched to Bryant’s debut season in the NBA in 1996-97.
A then-18-year-old Bryant wore the famous yellow jersey with the No. 8 during his first media day, his preseason debut and his regular season debut on November 3, 1996, as well as in four other games.
According to ESPN, Bryant played six minutes and scored no points on 0-1 shooting in his regular season debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Sotheby’s describes the jersey as a “bridge between the raw potential of a teenage prodigy and the refined greatness that would follow.” The jersey previously sold for $115,242 at auction in 2012.
Although Bryant averaged just 7.6 points per game in his first NBA season, he would retire as one of the sport’s greatest ever players with five titles to his name.
“Early rookie jerseys represent the genesis of an athlete’s career. For collectors in search of true one-of-one treasures, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own iconic pieces of basketball history,” Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, said in a statement.
“Debut games are something every athlete experiences just once in their career journey, and is a moment where the hype of their pre-professional career finally comes to bear in the big leagues.”
According to Reuters, the jersey is the fourth most expensive game-worn sports jersey behind Babe Ruth’s “called shot” jersey ($24 million), Michael Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals jersey ($10.1 million), and Diego Maradona’s Argentina shirt from the 1986 World Cup ($9.3 million).
Bryant’s rookie jersey sale eclipsed the jersey from Michael Jordan’s debut season – which was photo-matched to his preseason debut and his second and third preseason appearances – which sold for just over $4 million in March.
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