A Kobe Bryant rookie book sold for $ 1.8 million Saturday night at Goldin Auctions, an online auction house and a sports souvenir store, making it one of the most expensive basketball books ever sold.
“Kobe Bryant Rookie Card # 138 Topps Chrome Refractors 1996-97 – BGS PRISTINE / Black Label 10 is just one of two worlds at its level of perfection,” Goldin Auctions explained.
Final sale price: 1,795,800 USD
An all-time record for any Kobe Bryant card. pic.twitter.com/dTStDwavHx
– Goldin Auctions (@GoldinAuctions) March 7, 2021
The card’s report had perfect 10s overall, qualifying it for the prestigious “black label” recognition.
Goldin Auctions did not release the buyer’s name until Sunday morning.
Bryant was one of the most revered athletes in the world before his death last year. Five-time NBA champion died along with his daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash in California on January 26, 2020, at the age of 41.
A few weeks after his death, Bryant cards were everywhere online, growing by 600%, according to eBay sales data.
“Kobe Bryant has been one of the fiercest competitors of all time and a truly great figure. His debut book is one of the rarest out there and one of only two on earth, in black label conditions, which is the highest possible, “Goldin Auctions founder Ken Goldin told ESPN.