Kobe Bryant's jersey from MVP season sold for $5.8 million

[February 10, 2023]   (Reuters) - A Los Angeles Lakers jersey worn by Kobe Bryant during his only MVP season in 2007-08 fetched $5.8 million at an auction on Thursday, becoming the second-most expensive basketball jersey ever sold, auction house Sotheby's said.  

A view shows a game-worn and signed Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant number 24 jersey that the late legendary basketball player wore during his MVP 2007-2008 NBA season, and was featured in an image of Bryant later turned into murals globally, during a press preview ahead of it’s February 2-9, 2023 auction at Sotheby’s in New York City, New York, U.S., February 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Segar

Michael Jordan's jersey from the opening game of the 1998 NBA Finals holds the record for the most expensive piece of game-worn sports memorabilia in history after it sold for over $10 million in September also via Sotheby's.

Bryant, an 18-times All Star and five-times NBA champion, died in a January 2020 helicopter crash that also killed his daughter and seven others.

Sotheby's website said the jersey was signed by Bryant and worn by him in 25 of his 82 games that season, including six playoff games.

"The image of Kobe wearing this particular jersey during the NBA playoffs has permeated in popular culture, reprinted on murals, books, newspapers," Brahm Wachter, Sotheby's head of streetwear and modern collectables, said in a statement.

"(It) has become a symbol of his fierce determination and passion that has resonated with audiences across the world."

(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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