Kobe Bryant, even after his passing more than four years ago now, continues to make headlines: all items related to the former Los Angeles Lakers star are priceless, but one in particular was recently auctioned off for a record sum.
In the 1999/00 season, Kobe Bryant managed to win his first NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers jersey, and it is the Champion’s ring that has been sold: the ring is composed of 14-karat gold, has 40 diamonds set, with the Lakers logo, the words “World Champions” on the front and the words “Ring Bling” on the side, on the others is Bryant’s name and the records for that season, 67-15 for the regular season and 15-8 for the playoffs, while the bottom has the number 8, Kobe’s jersey number.
The auction house Goldin has of course not disclosed either the seller or the buyer, but the figure is public: put up for auction on March 9, the same ended on the 30th, in the last 22 minutes there were as many as 16 bids up and the winner took home the ring for $760,000, plus $167,200 commission for the Goldin, for a total of $927,200, a record sum as far as an NBA ring is concerned, surpassing the 705,000 paid for the first one won by Bill Russell in the 1957 playoffs, which was his first.
A mystery, however, surrounds the deal: the ring was given by Kobe himself to his father Joe, who sold it in 2013, causing a legal feud between the two (the former Lakers allegedly did not authorize the sale), the new owner then decided to profit from Kobe’s death, which of course drove the value of the ring through the roof, and one of the rumors about the buyer revolves around the very name of Vanessa Bryant, who allegedly bought the ring to bring it back to the family.
Read also:
Rajon Rondo has made his retirement from basketball official
LeBron James on retirement: “I don’t have much time left.”
Player and coach class of ’91, when he is not in the gym he is in front of his PC writing about basketball (with BU since November 2012) or watching his beloved Grizzlies. He was editor-in-chief for Legabasketv’s Serie A Beko Live broadcast for the 2015 and 2016 seasons along with Matteo Gandini.
