What would you do with at least five million dollars in your pocket?

Be aware in any case that the auction house Sotheby's hopes to sell between five and seven million dollars an emblematic jersey of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who died tragically in a helicopter accident in 2020. If he finds a buyer, and he will find, such an amount would explode the record of 3.7 million dollars, reached in 2021, for a jersey of the icon of the Los Angeles Lakers with five NBA titles and two Olympic gold medals, and would be close to the heights for a collectible sporting item.

The market, which now attracts wealthy collectors and investors from all over the world, saw its auction record broken twice in 2022: in May, a shirt of Argentina captain Diego Maradona worn during the FIFA World Cup in 1986, was purchased for $9.3 million;

in September, a jersey of Chicago Bulls No. 23 Michael Jordan, worn during his last NBA title win in 1998, fetched $10.1 million.

The jersey worn on the mythical shot of 2008

Kobe Bryant's yellow and purple number 24 jersey, offered for sale by an owner who wishes to remain anonymous, had been worn in 25 games by the player, the year he was named MVP of the 2007 regular season. 2008), according to Sotheby's.

It's also the tunic he donned on April 23, 2008, the night he was immortalized in a legendary shot by photographers celebrating a three-point shot against the Denver Nuggets, holding the jersey with both hands and screaming with joy. .

An image reproduced on walls around the world by street artists, especially in Los Angeles.

Its purchase price the last time it was auctioned in 2013?

$18,678.

According to Sotheby's, the context was different because, at the time, the jersey had not been authenticated as having been worn as many matches, nor as having given rise to "the image which galvanized the public after the tragic death of Kobe”.

Throughout the season, "this jersey has been worn 25 times, and it has scored 645 points with it," said Brahm Wachter, who heads the streetwear and modern collectibles department at Sotheby's.

The item, on display in New York City from February 1, is part of a larger internet sale of collectible sporting goods from February 2-9.

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