Kobe Bryant Rings Auction Kinda Flops Even With Six Figure Selling Items
A Kobe Bryant rings auction has helped New Jersey’s Goldin Auctions defray the high cost of selling some memorabilia from Bryant’s parents — but they may be wondering right about now if the results were worth the headaches of dealing with the troubled Bryant family.
On Saturday, the auction of the Kobe Bryant rings and other items was finally closed.
According to the Goldin Auction’s July 20 closing auctions page, both Kobe Bryant rings did very well for the house.
A Kobe Bryant 2000 Los Angeles Lakers NBA Championship Ring made of 14 karat gold and containing 40 diamonds, originally a Laker issued ring that Kobe gave to his dad Joe Bryant, went for an impressive $165,889.80.
A second Kobe Bryant 2000 Los Angeles Lakers NBA Championship Ring that Kobe gave to his mother went for $103,003.20. His mother’s ring was also made of 14 karat gold with 40 diamonds — but of course it was a smaller size.
His NBA 2000 All Star Ring went for $52,854.
Two #33 jerseys from his old high school went for $48,048.15 and $39,708.35.
And there were a few other Kobe Bryant items that went for less than $10,000 a pop — and some less than $4,000 a pop.
So do the numbers actually add up to a successful auction?
The story began in May, when Kobe Bryant’s lawyer sent a letter to try to block his mother from selling the items.
Thing is, she’d already been paid $450,000 in front money so that she could buy a house in Nevada.
In May, Kobe Bryant, his mom, and the auction house reached an agreement which allowed Goldin to sell nine items. At the time Goldin predicted that the uniforms and the All-Star Game ring would bring six figure bids from $100,000 to $250,000 each.
They didn’t. Only the two rings given to his parents hit the six figures.
By my calculation, if you add up all of the Kobe Bryant items in the auction, you’re getting a tad less than $450,000 — not quite breakeven.
Unless I did something badly wrong with my math, the Kobe Bryant rings auction wasn’t worth the hassle.
[Kobe Bryant rings auction photos by Goldin Auctions]
