The Los Angeles Lakers residence locker that NBA Corridor of Famer Kobe Bryant used at Staples Heart from 2003-04 to his closing season in 2015-16 has bought for a record-setting $2.9 million, the public sale home that brokered the sale stated Friday.
In accordance with Sotheby’s, it’s essentially the most beneficial sports activities locker to ever promote at public sale. It’s additionally the third-most costly piece of Bryant memorabilia of all time, trailing only a game-used, autographed and photo-matched jersey from Bryant’s rookie season.
Bryant’s rookie season jersey bought for $3.69 million in 2021. His residence locker additionally fell wanting a signed, game-used and photo-matched Bryant jersey from his lone MVP season in 2007-08, which bought for $5.6 million. It was the second-most beneficial basketball jersey ever bought.
Per ESPN’s Dan Hajducky, the locker was bidding at $750,000, however over the ultimate twenty minutes of the public sale, 4 bidders pushed the sale to only underneath $3 million.
“Kobe Bryant’s locker shouldn’t be merely a chunk of memorabilia,” Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of contemporary collectibles, stated in a press release. “However a profound relic from one in all basketball’s most iconic figures. At this time’s worth highlights not solely Kobe’s enduring legacy but in addition the distinctive nature of this distinctive merchandise.”
The customized locker’s dimensions are L 34 3/4″ x W 24″ x H 98 7/8,” in response to the lot particulars. If the Staples Heart was “The Home that Kobe Constructed,” then this was his room inside that home.
Kobe Bryant’s Staples Heart locker was the setting for champagne championship celebrations, autograph signings
Moreover, Bryant’s locker has a wooden grain sample on the cupboard door on the prime. It additionally options black marks on the underside kick plate and a mixture lock on the highest cupboard. His locker was reportedly the one one with a mixture lock.
Bryant’s locker was additionally positioned behind the locker room close to the showers. Following his retirement in 2016, the locker was given to Brandon Ingram for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
Through the Staples Heart’s 2018 renovations, an unnamed upkeep employee saved Bryant’s locker from demolition, then bought it to a personal collector, who reunited the locker with Bryant’s nameplate.
The again row of lockers was modified from 4 lockers to 3, and LeBron James took Bryant’s nook spot.
In accordance with Sotheby’s, the merchandise was registered into The MeiGrade System to trace unique memorabilia. It was inspected in individual by MeiGray in August 2023.
Sotheby’s introduced {that a} portion of the sale’s proceeds will “immediately profit” the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Basis. Nonetheless, the public sale home didn’t disclose the greenback quantity.
The Lakers Youth Basis funds STEM Lab Initiatives, Studying, and Studying Facilities. It pays for the development of basketball courts all through Los Angeles County and in Hawaii as nicely.
