With the record-breaking sale of Kobe Bryant’s NBA debut jersey, which became the seventh-most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever sold at $7,004,000, cllct looks back at the top pieces of Bryant collectibles from some of the most significant moments of his career.
NBA debut
The jersey Bryant worn in his first NBA game, first preseason game and first NBA Media day sold for $115,242 at Grey Flannel in 2013. It sold again Thursday at Sotheby’s for a record $7.004 million.
It’s now the most expensive piece of Bryant memorabilia ever sold publicly, as well as the second-most expensive NBA jersey in history (behind Michael Jordan's jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals at $10.1 million).
A pair of sneakers with possible attribution to Bryant's debut sold for $50,800 at Sotheby’s in April 2024.
First playoff appearance
The only jersey photo-matched to a playoff game from Bryant’s rookie season sold for more than $2.7 million in 2022 at SCP Auctions.
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Final game
The Staples Center court from the final game of Bryant’s career — in which he dropped 60 points — featured both of the numbers he wore during his career on either side of the playing surface.
The pieces of hardwood with the No. 24 are currently in the Lakers practice facility. The other side, featuring the No. 8, sold for $631,200 at Heritage in 2020 and most recently sold by Rally for $800,000.
The warm-up jacket Bryant wore prior to that game sold for $336,000 at SCP Auctions in 2024.
Childhood hoop
A basketball hoop from the home in which Bryant lived as a teenager in the suburbs of Philadelphia sold at Heritage in 2021 for $39,600.
MVP season jersey
Prior to the sale of Bryant’s debut jersey, it was this jersey, which was worn in 25 games during his 2007-2008 MVP season, which held his record. It sold for nearly $5.85 million in February 2023 at Sotheby’s.
Staples Center locker
The locker Bryant used at the Staples Center for the majority of his career was tossed aside during a renovation in 2018 and preserved by an unnamed person working on the project.
It sold privately in 2022 for $280,000. The locker sold at Sotheby’s for $2.88 million in August 2024.
"Achilles Game"
The jersey Bryant wore during the infamous “Achilles game,” in which he tore his Achilles but still made it to the line to sink his two free throws, sold for $1.22 million at Goldin Auctions in 2024.
The sneakers worn during that same game sold for $666,000 at Sotheby’s earlier this year, a record for any pair of Bryant-worn sneakers.
2009 NBA Finals
In Game 3 of the 2009 NBA Finals, in which Bryant would go on to win MVP, he dropped 31 points with eight assists wearing a jersey that would eventually sell for $337,334.40 at Grey Flannel in 2021, then again for $915,000 at Goldin in 2024.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.