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The basketball Kobe Bryant played with to win his first-ever NBA championship was just auctioned off for $508,000 at Sotheby’s. That makes it the most expensive championship-winning ball to date, according to the auction house.
The ball was autographed by Bryant and fellow former Los Angeles’ Lakers teammates like Shaquille O’Neal. They used it during their victory against the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the 2000 NBA Finals, where the final score was 116 to 111. It was the team’s first title since 1988.
Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, said seeing Bryant’s first championship ball next to one of his jerseys from high school was “mind-blowing.”
“For the first time, Sotheby’s has transformed The Breuer (a Manhattan museum) into a world-class showcase of sport, bringing together nearly $30 million in historic memorabilia from the icons who have defined athletic excellence,” Wachter said in a statement, according to the New York Times. “The exhibition captures the evolution of greatness across generations.”
Bryant had scored 26 points and clinched 10 rebounds and 4 assists in that game. He said afterwards that it was “everything and more,” according to the New York Post.
“Lakers colors falling from the ceiling, the fans going crazy,” Bryant said. “I got the hat on and everything covering my fro, it feels great.”
O’Neal earned the team 41 points, snagging 12 rebounds and blocking four balls. Bryant went on to win five championships, and O’Neal four.
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Ava Levinson
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