An NBA Championship ring that was once owned by the late Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has hit the auction block.
According to Goldin, the 14-karat gold ring is decorated with a whopping 40 diamonds and was given to Kobe's father, Joe Bryant, after the athlete won his first championship with the Lakers during the 2000 NBA season. While it's not the same ring given to players and team personnel, it is listed as an exact replica that Kobe had ordered as a gift for his 69-year-old father.
Goldin says the ring comes in Kobe's ring size of 11.5, weighs nearly 60 grams, and comes with a letter of authenticity from the Hall of Famer's mother, Pam Bryant.
"Obtained directly from the Bryant family, this ring is a true one-of-a-kind," the item description reads. "And we can confirm that it is the only championship ring ever given by Kobe to his father."
Bidding on the ring began at $30,000. But as of Friday afternoon, the highest bid had already reached $141,000, with the auction set to conclude on March 30.
Bryant was just 41 years old when he died alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. The group was on their way to a youth basketball game in which Kobe was set to coach and his daughter was scheduled to play. An investigation found that the helicopter encountered dense fog and poor visibility, before crashing into a mountain in Calabasas, California.
Over the course of his 20-year career — all with the Lakers — Bryant went on to win five NBA Championships, was named Finals Most Valuable Player twice, and won two gold medals while representing Team USA in the Olympics. He was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
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