A jersey worn by Kobe Bryant when he burst onto the NBA scene as a Lakers rookie was a slam dunk to attract hefty bids at auction.
After a rush of bids Saturday, the No. 8 jersey finished at a staggering $2.7 million. The whopping price is the second-highest for any basketball game-worn jersey, SCP Auctions said in a news release.
The jersey is the only to ever be photo-matched to Bryant's rookie season playoff run with the Lakers. It was matched to the team's 1997 playoff run and several games at the end of Bryant's rookie regular season.
The auction also featured ticket stubs from Jackie Robinson's monumental MLB debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, a pair of Mickey Mantle rookie cards, an autographed Babe Ruth baseball card, and more.
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A 1947 photo of Jackie Robinson taken on the day of the baseball trailblazer's rookie debut sold for $103,163.
Other Bryant items were up for bids, including his 1997 Skybox Metal Universe PMG basketball card, which ended at $403,664. The PSA Authentic Altered card is autographed and is numbered 60 out of only 100 cards in the world.
The auction total topped $8 million, which is the second-largest biggest auction in company history, the auction company said.
Here are some other auction highlights.
- $342,379 for a 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle rookie card
- $275,696 for an autographed 1933 Babe Ruth card
- 230,291 for a ticket stub from Jackie Robinson's 1947 debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers
- $227,856 for a Babe Ruth game-used bat from 1920-22
- $73,253 for DeShawn Stevenson's 2011 Dallas Mavericks NBA championship ring
