Kobe Bryant 1997 Lakers Card Makes History, Sold for Record $3.15M

A Kobe Bryant card sold for $3.15 million, setting a record for the Los Angeles Lakers legend.

According to ESPN's Dan Hajducky, this was the highest price for a standalone Bryant card. It was a green parallel from the 1997 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems (PMG) set, which has been a hot commodity in the collectibles market.

While 100 of these Bryant rookies were made, only 10 have the green parallel. The other 90 have a red back.

Leore Avidar, founder of the trading platform Alt, purchased the card.

"I'd argue this is the best Kobe Bryant card out there," he told Hajducky. "They only made 10 of them, it shines, and it's the first year of basketball PMGs — which there's a collector base for. I've been trying to get one — it's always been my thing."

Given what he later accomplished, it's easy to forget Bryant had a somewhat modest start to his NBA career. As a rookie, he averaged 7.6 points in 71 appearances for the Lakers. Even when he made the All-Star team in his second season, he was primarily a sixth man for Los Angeles.

The Kobe PMG isn't the single most expensive card featuring Bryant. That distinction belongs to a Upper Deck Exquisite Collection insert that included autographs and jersey patches from both the 18-time All-Star and Michael Jordan. The price tag for that was a cool $12.9 million.