The Los Angeles Lakers dwelling locker that NBA Corridor of Famer Kobe Bryant used at Staples Heart from 2003-04 to his ultimate season in 2015-16 has offered for a record-setting $2.9 million, the public sale home that brokered the sale stated Friday.
In response to 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 offered for $3.69 million in 2021. His dwelling locker additionally fell in need of a signed, game-used and photo-matched Bryant jersey from his lone MVP season in 2007-08, which offered for $5.6 million. It was the second-most beneficial basketball jersey ever offered.
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 below $3 million.
“Kobe Bryant’s locker is just not merely a chunk of memorabilia,” Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of recent collectibles, stated in an announcement. “However a profound relic from considered one of basketball’s most iconic figures. Right now’s value highlights not solely Kobe’s enduring legacy but additionally 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,” based on 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 situated 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.
Throughout the Staples Heart’s 2018 renovations, an unnamed upkeep employee saved Bryant’s locker from demolition, then offered it to a non-public 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 response to Sotheby’s, the merchandise was registered into The MeiGrade System to trace unique memorabilia. It was inspected in particular person by MeiGray in August 2023.
Sotheby’s introduced {that a} portion of the sale’s proceeds will “instantly 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 Tasks, Studying, and Studying Facilities. It pays for the development of basketball courts all through Los Angeles County and in Hawaii as properly.
