KOBE BRYANT DEBUT LAKERS JERSEY SELLS FOR $7 MILLION

A Kobe Bryant jersey worn during his Los Angeles Lakers pre-season and regular-season debuts was sold for $7 million at Sotheby's in New York City on Thursday, the auction house said.

The jersey was photo-matched to seven games of his 1996-97 rookie season including his October 16 pre-season debut and November 3 regular season debut in 1996, as well as his NBA media day.

At $7 million the item is the fourth-most expensive game-worn sports jersey behind Babe Ruth’s "called shot" jersey ($24 million), Michael Jordan's 1998 NBA Finals jersey ($10.1 million), and Diego Maradona's Argentina shirt from the 1986 World Cup $9.3 million.

- GMA News

KOBE BRYANT'S STAPLES CENTER LOCKER FETCHES RECORD $2.9M AT AUCTION

Kobe Bryant's record-setting Staples Center locker is considered "a profound relic from one of basketball's most iconic figures." Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

The home locker that the late Kobe Bryant used from 2003-04 to his final season in 2015-16 has sold for a record-setting $2.9 million, the auction house that brokered the sale said Friday.

According to Sotheby's, it's the most valuable sports locker to ever sell at auction. It's also the third-most expensive piece of Bryant memorabilia of all time, trailing just a game-used, autographed and photo-matched jersey from Bryant's rookie season, which sold for $3.69 million in 2021, and a signed, game-used and photo-matched Bryant jersey from his lone MVP season in 2007-08, which sold for $5.6 million -- the second-most valuable basketball jersey ever sold.

The locker was bidding at $750,000, but over the final twenty minutes of the auction, four bidders pushed the sale to just under $3 million.

"Kobe Bryant's locker is not merely a piece of memorabilia," Brahm Wachter, Sotheby's head of modern collectibles, said in a statement. "But a profound relic from one of basketball's most iconic figures. Today's price highlights not only Kobe's enduring legacy but also the exceptional nature of this unique item."

During the Staples Center's 2018 renovations, an unnamed maintenance worker saved Bryant's locker from demolition, sold it to a private collector, who reunited the locker with Bryant's nameplate.

Sotheby's notes that a portion of the sale's proceeds will "directly benefit" the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation but did not elaborate as to how much.

- Dan Hajducky, ESPN

ALI'S 'THRILLER IN MANILA' TRUNKS POISED TO SELL FOR $6 MILLION AT AUCTION

Reuters 

 Muhammad Ali's white satin boxing trunks from his epic 'Thrilla in Manila' bout with rival Joe Frazier went up for auction on Thursday and are expected to sell for upwards of $6 million.

Auction house Sotheby's said the trunks from the October 1975 bout in the Philippines, which was won by Ali and marked a brutal finish to perhaps the greatest trilogy in boxing history, will be up for auction until April 12.

The trunks, which feature a black trim at the waistband and black piping running down the side of each leg, are inscribed by Ali's assistant trainer and corner man, Drew "Bundini" Brown and signed by Ali in black Sharpie.

According to Sotheby's, the trunks were auctioned in 1988 from Bundini's storage locker after his death for around $1,000 and have since made their way through the auction market. They were last auctioned in 2012 for just over $150,000.

In the sweltering heat of a Philippine afternoon, the world of boxing witnessed a brutal spectacle as Ali and Frazier fought each other for the third and final time in a clash of wills that etched itself into the annals of sporting history.

Reuters 

In what proved to be a frightfully punishing encounter, Ali retained the heavyweight crown when Frazier's trainer would not allow his fighter to answer the bell for the 15th round.

After the most trying fight of his storied career, Ali said it was the closest thing to death that he had ever felt.

In the first of three bouts between the two boxers, Frazier broke Ali's unbeaten record when he knocked him down with a left hook in the 15th round en route to winning by unanimous decision in March 1971.

Ali got revenge when he outpunched Frazier for a unanimous 12-round decision in January 1974, setting the stage for the 'Thrilla in Manila' nearly two years later.

Ali, whose record-setting boxing career, unprecedented flair for showmanship and controversial stands made him one of the best-known figures of the 20th century, died in June 2016 aged 74 of septic shock due to unspecified natural causes.

- Reuters 

VICTOR WEMBANYAMA Debut Jersey Hits Auction | BIDDING SOARS TO $50K ON 1ST DAY

Getty

One of the most important pieces of memorabilia from Victor Wembanyama's NBA career -- a jersey he wore during his first-ever Spurs game -- has just gone up for auction ... and so far, bidders are showing they really want the item.

In its first day on the block, the threads that the 19-year-old phenom rocked in San Antonio's season-opener on Oct. 25 have already received 25 bids .... with a high $50,000 so far.

Experts at Sotheby's -- which is hosting the auction as part of its new partnership with the NBA -- previously anticipated the jersey would sell for between $80,000-$120,000 ... though if the early interest is any indication, it seems there's a good chance it could exceed that figure.