Jersey from Kobe Bryant's Lakers debut sells for $7 million

Kobe Bryant's first game-worn jersey is displayed during a media preview ahead Sotheby's sale of sports memorabilia in New York on March 21. | REUTERS

Wires
April 25, 2025

A Kobe Bryant jersey worn during his Los Angeles Lakers preseason and regular-season debuts was sold for $7 million at Sotheby's in New York City on Thursday, the auction house said.

The jersey was photo-matched to seven games from his 1996-97 rookie season, including his Oct. 16 preseason debut and Nov. 3 regular-season debut in 1996, as well as his NBA media day.

At $7 million, the item is the fourth-most expensive game-worn sports jersey behind Babe Ruth’s "called shot" jersey ($24 million), Michael Jordan's 1998 NBA Finals jersey ($10.1 million), and Diego Maradona's Argentina shirt from the 1986 World Cup ($9.3 million).

"Debut games are truly one-of-a-kind moments in an athlete's career," Brahm Wachter , Sotheby's head of modern collectibles, said in a statement to ESPN.

"They mark the nascency of an extraordinary journey, and for iconic athletes like Kobe Bryant, these milestones hold even more significance as they represent a singular moment in time that can never be replicated."

The sale was a record for a Bryant collectible, surpassing the $5.85 million paid for his signed, game-worn 2007-08 MVP season jersey.

Bryant, a five-time NBA champion died at age 41 in a January 2020 helicopter crash that also killed his daughter Gianna and seven others.