The Los Angeles Lakers Capsule Collection, the first of multiple auctions in Sotheby’s Sports Week, closed on Wednesday afternoon, highlighted by Kobe Bryant’s 2009 NBA Finals game-worn jersey. Bryant’s jersey sold for $1.75 million.
Bryant wore the jersey in Game 1 of the 2009 NBA Finals, when he scored a Finals career-high 40 points and led the Lakers to a 100-75 victory over Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic.
The sale, which garnered a single bid, fell short of the record price paid for a jersey from Bryant’s 2007-08 MVP-season, photo-matched to 25 games — including one of the most iconic images of his career, when Bryant “popped his jersey” to celebrate during a Lakers playoff win over the Denver Nuggets — which sold for $5.8 million at Sotheby’s in February 2023.
Other Lakers items of interest sold include a Bryant-signed ball that sold for $15,24 – a very high price for a simple autograph on a common ball, unaffiliated with game play.
Another ball, signed by the Lakers’ 2000 NBA championship team, including both Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, sold for $38,100 — more than triple the initial estimate.
One of the most unique lots in the auction was the rim from the game when LeBron James broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record, which sold for $152,400.
LeBron’s game-worn jersey from the night the Lakers great topped 38,000 points closed at $393,700.
Remembering Kobe Bryant’s Lakers legacy
The Lakers unveiled a statue of Bryant outside Crypto.com Arena earlier this season.
Vanessa Bryant introduced the statue after brief speeches from Derek Fisher, Phil Jackson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Stu Lantz, and Jeanie Buss. The statue is a pose of Kobe walking off the court after scoring 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in 2006. ‘Kobe Bean Bryant’ is written on the bust with, ‘Black Mamba’ etched underneath on the stone pedestal.
Vanessa said three statues honoring Kobe will be unveiled. In addition to the one of him wearing No. 8, there will be statues featuring Bryant wearing No. 24 and one with him and his daughter, Gianna Bryant. Time and location are TBD.
Bryant joins fellow Los Angeles sports legends Abdul-Jabbar, West, Magic, Shaquille O’Neal, Oscar De La Hoya, Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Chick Hearn and Bob Miller in Star Plaza. Bryant’s statue, standing 19 feet high at 4,000 pounds, is considerably larger than the rest.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Lakers legends Pau Gasol, Jerry West, and Magic Johnson, current Lakers Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, Darvin Ham, and many other notable figures in team history, along with multiple major figures in the basketball world were on hand during the unveiling.
Bryant won 5 NBA championships with the Lakers, earning 15 All-NBA team selections and 12 All-Defensive team selections. He led the NBA in scoring twice, won a Slam Dunk Contest and four All-Star Game MVPs while playing 20 seasons with Los Angeles – the most with one team in NBA history.
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