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Dan Hajducky
The first No. 24 jersey worn by Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers recently sold for $889,000, including buyer’s premium, at Sotheby’s.
A jersey used by Jerry West from 1964 to 1967 also sold for $533,400 on the same night.
Bryant wore the jersey while posting 23 points in a 118-112 victory against the Seattle Supersonics on Nov. 3, 2006. He would score 50 points or more in a game on 10 occasions in that 2006-07 season en route to his second straight — and final — league scoring title.
The jersey is signed by him with the inscriptions “FIRST 24” and “1/1” on the jersey’s numbers, including an Upper Deck hologram, as the company had an autograph and memorabilia deal with Bryant until 2009.
MeiGray Authenticated also photo-matched the jersey to the Lakers’ 2006 media day in October.
The most ever paid for any Bryant jersey is $7 million — for a jersey that was photo-matched to seven games from his 1996-97 rookie season. That jersey was sold by Sotheby’s in April.
West’s jersey was definitively worn during Game 6 of the 1965 and 1966 Western Division finals and Game 2 of the 1966 NBA Finals, according to photo-matching by Sports Investors Authentication.
SIA’s letter of authenticity states the jersey was “likely” worn during both the 1965 and 1966 NBA Finals. The Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in both those series, with West averaging 33.8 and 33.9 points per game, respectively.
The West jersey lot also included a warm-up jacket, shorts and socks, which the auction house “also believes to be game-worn.” In 1967, Frank O’Neill, a former Lakers trainer, received the items when the team moved to The Forum and they’ve remained in a private collection until now.
A collector purchased a jersey photo-matched to four games from the 1969-70 Lakers season for $868,000 in May, an all-time record for a West item.
The jersey that Wayne Gretzky wore in his final NHL game for the New York Rangers on April 18, 1999, was predicted to sell for more than $1 million, but Sotheby’s confirmed that bidding didn’t meet a set reserve price and the jersey went unsold.