The Los Angeles Lakers dwelling locker that NBA Corridor of Famer Kobe Bryant used at Staples Middle from 2003-04 to his remaining season in 2015-16 has bought for a record-setting $2.9 million, the public sale home that brokered the sale mentioned Friday.
In keeping with Sotheby’s, it’s essentially the most useful 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 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 bought for $5.6 million. It was the second-most useful 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 simply beneath $3 million.
“Kobe Bryant’s locker isn’t merely a chunk of memorabilia,” Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of contemporary collectibles, mentioned in a press release. “However a profound relic from certainly one of basketball’s most iconic figures. As we speak’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,” in response to the lot particulars. If the Staples Middle was “The Home that Kobe Constructed,” then this was his room inside that home.
Kobe Bryant’s Staples Middle 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.
In the course of the Staples Middle’s 2018 renovations, an unnamed upkeep employee saved Bryant’s locker from demolition, then bought 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 keeping 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 “straight 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 nicely.
