August 2 is officially a day to behold in the Black Mamba history.
On the same day, the late basketball legend was honoured with a second statue outside “The House that Kobe built,” i.e. Crypto.com Arena, an auction sealed the future of the one-of-a-kind Kobe Bryant memorabilia—the Los Angeles Lakers superstar’s iconic locker.
The locker he used throughout his golden NBA career was sold for a whopping $2.88 million.
Throughout his NBA career, Brant swore by the Lakers‘ colours, and his locker from the arena, formerly known as Staples Center, is essentially a piece of the team’s history.
According to the Bleacher Report, his locker – with dimensions 98 7/8″ x 34 3/4″ x 24″ – contains wood, metal and plastic. Its final price for the Sotheby’s auction on Friday ended up exceeding the originally estimated amount.
Also read | Simone Biles loves her ‘black job’: Olympic GOAT seemingly takes a dig at Trump
More about Kobe Bryant’s Staples Center locker
In July, TMZ reported that Sotheby’s expected to fetch up to $1.2 million through the exclusive bid.
His locker, photo-matched from 2004 to 2016, was almost lost to renovations at the Staples Center in 2018. Luckily, a maintenance worker saved the artefact upon his serendipitous realisation of its owner. After the worker preserved it in storage for years, a private American collector reunited the locker with its nameplate.
The locker has presumably witnessed all of Kobe’s celebrations, and in keeping with the star’s “legacy of philanthropy and community impact,” Sotheby’s confirmed, “a portion of the proceeds from the sale will directly benefit The Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation.”
“If the Staples Center was ‘The House that Kobe Built’, then this was his room inside that house, a remarkable and intimate artefact that lived Kobe’s career with him,” read an extract of the auction listing.
Also read | Did Ariana Madix’s Love Island USA creds just help BFF Katie Maloney on the dating scene?
Through his two-decade NBA career—all spent with the Lakers—the Black Mamba finished with 33,643 points. As one of the finest players on the team, Bryant earned 18 All-Star selections and led five NBA championships. He’s often also considered in the basketball GOAT debate alongside Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
The auction ended on the same day as the second of three planned monuments dedicated to the Lakers legend, which he shares the larger-than-life installation with his daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, was unveiled in a private ceremony outside of Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.
The first statue, a 19-foot bronze memorial, was unveiled on February 8. It’s dedicated to his 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors.
The Friday reveal also shares numerological significance with the February statue as both dates—8/2/24 and 2/8/24—represent Bryant’s uniform numbers 8 and 24, whereas 13-year-old Gigi wore the No. 2 on the basketball court.
The father and daughter duo (along with seven others) unfortunately passed away in January 2020 following a tragic helicopter crash.
According to ESPN, a third statue is expected to be unveiled in Bryant’s name sometime next season.
