Ultra-Rare Kobe Bryant Signed Lakers Jersey with NBA Finals Patch Sells for $1.8M at Auction

A Kobe Bryant jersey from the Los Angeles Lakers' run to the 2003-04 NBA Finals sold for $1.8 million at an auction from The Realest on Sunday.

According to the site, Bryant wore the jersey across 17 total games in the 2003-04 season and eight playoff games. The Lakers were 16-1 overall in those games and 8-0 in those postseason contests.

Per the site, "This is the first and only championship-era No. 8 [Bryant Lakers' jersey] ever offered, in the uniform Kobe made famous, and no Kobe Bryant jersey of either number documented to double-digit games has a better record. It is also the only Kobe Bryant No. 8 jersey with an NBA Finals patch ever to come to market. It comes from the 2003-04 season Bryant would later identify as the origin of the Black Mamba persona, before the name became public mythology."

The Lakers reportedly sold the jersey after Bryant's retirement night in 2017, and before Sunday, it only ever had one owner. Somebody certainly paid a premium to become owner No. 2.