The first number 24 jersey which Kobe Bryant wore for the Los Angeles Lakers has sold for $889,000 including buyer’s premium at Sotheby’s auction house.
The jersey, which features the inscriptions “first 24” and “1/1” along with Bryant’s signature, was worn on November 3rd, 2006 in LA’s 118-112 win over the Seattle Supersonics. Bryant would score 23 points that night, and would eventually capture his second straight league scoring title later that year.
“This jersey is not merely a relic of a single night, but a symbolic artifact from a career that bridged eras and identities,” Sotheby’s Brendan Hawkes said in a pre-sale statement. “Signed and inscribed to forever link it to the debut of No. 24, it stands as one of the most culturally and historically significant Kobe Bryant jerseys to ever surface — the tangible starting point of a chapter that would help define his legend.”
While the number puts the jersey well out of budget for the average collector, it still falls well below the most expensive Bryant jersey sold on the secondary market. That honour still belongs to a rookie jersey from the 1996-97 season which was worn in seven games which fetched a whopping $7M at auction earlier this year.
Kobe famously began his career wearing the number 8 with Los Angeles as his preferred number, 24, was already being worn by George McCloud. Bryant would win 2 out of his 5 championships while wearing the number 24, with LA later retiring both numbers in his honour.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.