A Bronny James' game-worn Lakers jersey from the 2024 NBA Las Vegas Summer League sold for $38,400 in an auction at Sotheby’s on Friday afternoon.
When LeBron James' oldest son was drafted by the Lakers with the 55th overall pick in the draft, he joined his father to form the first active father-son duo in NBA history.
In the July 12 game against the Houston Rockets in Las Vegas, James had eight points and five rebounds in the Lakers' 99-80 loss to Houston.
Bronny was projected to be a first-round pick before suffering a cardiac arrest, which sidelined him for nearly five months during his only NCAA season for USC. After he returned, James played 25 games, averaging an underwhelming 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
The Lakers’ decision to draft Bronny, fulfilling LeBron’s long-stated dream of playing alongside his son, was met with scrutiny by many who argue he would never have been drafted, let alone signed to a guaranteed four-year deal, if his last name wasn’t James.
Regardless of his talent, the first time he takes the court with his father will undoubtedly be etched into NBA history. The promise of sharing a seminal moment with one of the NBA’s greatest players in its history contributes to collector’s interest in the 19-year-old, whose limited role as a potential rotation player would otherwise be unlikely to attract much in the way of collectible investment.
A sale of this magnitude for a Summer League jersey would be inconceivable for any other player of similar credentials. James' first Summer League game was six days prior in the July 6 California Classic in Sacramento, where he scored four points as the Lakers lost to the Kings.
Isaiah Wong, the 55th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, has played a single game in the NBA, scoring two points. Unsurprisingly, there does not appear to be much of a market for his collectibles.
The first pick in 2024’s NBA Draft, Zaccharie Risacher, also had a Summer League jersey from July 12 offered in the same auction, selling for $3,360. No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr of France had a Summer League jersey sell for $1,560.
Victor Wembanyama’s first Summer League jersey sold for $62,000 in October 2023. His NBA regular-season debut jersey sold for $762,000 a month later, establishing a record price for any NBA debut jersey.
A week prior to being drafted by the Lakers in June, a Bronny James Bowman U 1/1 Superfractor PSA 10 sold at Goldin Auctions for $9,150, the record price paid for a Bronny-only card.
Earlier this year, one of the top chase cards in recent memory, a dual-signed Bronny-LeBron card, sold for $114,000.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story described this jersey as being from Bronny James’ July 6 Summer League debut in the California Classic at Sacramento. The jersey sold is from James’ first Las Vegas game in Summer League on July 12.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.