Kobe Bryant맥스카지노s debut jersey sells for $7 million at auction, a record price for memorabilia tied to the NBA legend
The jersey wore in his debut sold for $7 million in auction on Thursday.
The sale sets a record for any memorabilia tied to the legend, , who died in a helicopter crash in 2020 along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.
Video above: Greatest lesson Kobe Bryant learned in career was 맥스카지노compassion맥스카지노
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.
According to auction house Sotheby's, the jersey has been photo-matched to Bryant's debut season in the NBA in 1996-97.
A then-18-year-old 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.
, Bryant played six minutes and scored no points on 0-1 shooting in his regular season debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Sotheby's describe the jersey as a "bridge between the raw potential of a teenage prodigy and the refined greatness that would follow."
Although 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.
Video below: Vanessa Bryant, widow of Kobe Bryant, announces statue 'so that his legacy can be celebrated forever'
"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."
, the jersey is the fourth most expensive game-worn sports jersey behind ($24 million), ($10.1 million), and from the 1986 World Cup ($9.3 million).
rookie jersey sale eclipsed the jersey from Michael Jordan's debut season 맥스카지노 which was photo-matched to his preseason debut and his second and third preseason appearances 맥스카지노 which sold for just over $4 million in March.
