When Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers captured the first of their NBA championships in 2000, Bryant gifted his mother Pamela with a 14-karat gold ring.
Twenty years later, Bryant’s ring was sold for $206,000 at the Goldin Auctions.
The coveted ring initially was listed at the auction for $15,000 and is one of the two identical rings Bryant gave to his mother and his father, former NBA star Joe “Jellybean” Bryant.
A private collector had possession of the rings for seven years after he got the prized items in 2013 as the result of a falling out between Bryant and his parents. Bryant did not speak to his parents for years when he learned they were auctioning off his personal effects and memorabilia without his knowledge or permission.
“They were packaged together after Pamela and Joe Bryant attempted to sell several pieces of memorabilia, leading to Kobe filing a lawsuit against his parents,” the Bleacher Report reported. “An agreement was eventually reached for Kobe’s parents to sell six items, including the rings.”
The Bleacher Report has stated the father’s ring may soon reach the auction block.
Bryant died Jan. 26, 2020, at age 41 when the helicopter he was flying in crashed into the mountains northeast of Los Angeles. His 13-year-old daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant was also killed along with seven other passengers.
