Kobe Bryant is in a court battle to keep his mother from auctioning off mementoes from his high school days in Pennsylvania and his early years with the Los Angeles Lakers.
A New Jersey auction house has filed a lawsuit in US District Court for the right to sell the items after the NBA star’s lawyers wrote the firm telling it to cancel a planned June auction.
The disagreement is a high-value, high-profile version of a question many families face: can a mother get rid of the stuff a grown child left at home?
In this case, the 900 mementoes happen to be worth upwards of US$1.5 million (Dh5.5m).
Among the first 100 or so items Pamela Bryant intends to sell: the NBA star’s jerseys and practice gear from Lower Merion High School; varsity letters; a trophy for being the outstanding player at the 1995 Adidas ABCD basketball camp; and a signed basketball from the 2000 NBA championship game.
And then there are rings, for the 1996 Pennsylvania high school championship, a pair that the Lakers made for Bryant’s parents for the 2000 NBA championship and one from the 1998 NBA All-Star game.
According to court filings, Pamela Bryant received $450,000 from Goldin Auctions and intends to use the money for a new home in Nevada.
Bryant has had a sometimes icy relationship with his mother and father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, a former pro basketball player who is now coaching in Thailand.
* Associated Press