A Kobe Bryant jersey, worn in his rookie season, has sold for $2,735,546 at SCP Auctions in Laguna Niguel, California against a $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 estimate.
Image: SCP Auctions
An 18 year old Kobe had worn the jersey twice during the Los Angeles Lakers semi final series versus the Utah Jazz in 1993.
The jersey had been photo-matched by independent authenticators MeiGrey Group, who also serve as the official authenticators to the National Basketball Association. Photo-matching involves painstakingly matching threads and dot patterns from the jersey and comparing them to hundreds of available images from the games where Kobe wore the jersey.
Kobe Bryant memorabilia is on a roll and at $2.7m this becomes the second most valuable game worn basketball jersey, after the $3.69m paid for another Kobe Bryant rookie season game worn, and autographed, jersey that sold in May 2021, still someway behind the most expensive baseball jersey - the $5,640,000 paid for a 1928-1930 Babe Ruth New York Yankees shirt.