It’s been barely three months since we lost Kobe Bryant and his beautiful daughter, and the pain still stings just like that first day we heard of their demise.
When Bryant held the mic at his NBA farewell game and blessed the world with his “Mamba Out” speech in 2016, he also donned a towel around his shoulders that has just been sold for $33,000 at an auction last Sunday.
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A few moments after the final buzzer at the game, Bryant took hold of a Body Armor towel, draped it around his shoulders and reflected on his career in L.A on April 13, 2016. He thanked his family, especially Vanessa and Gigi and fans for standing by him throughout his career with the Lakers for the last 20 years.
He closed his now beloved speech with the catchphrase, “Mamba Out” and a fan couldn’t watch him walk by without grabbing it off his shoulders. Lucky fan!
In an online auction last week, the towel and tickets for his last game were sold for more than $33,000. 16 bids were placed on the items which are a part of Iconic Auctions’ March collection, and the winner was David Kohler, the founder of SCP Auctions and an avid Los Angeles Lakers collector, Washington Post reports.
“He is a devoted Lakers fan,” Iconic Auctions President Jeff Woolf told CNN. “His long-term plan is to create a museum in Southern California.”
The towel was sold for about $8,365 at an auction in 2016 not long after Bryant retired and now the winning bid has nearly quadrupled it, going for $33,077.16.
Any memorabilia that has ties to the Lakers has well increased in value since the tragic accident of the NBA star and his 13-year-old daughter Gigi.
In February, Kohler took home a 1992 Bala Cynwyd (Pa.) Middle School yearbook with a note written by 13-year-old Bryant, paying nearly $30,000.
“In a few years you probably will be dunking on me — Not!!” wrote Bryant, who went on to attend Lower Merion High in Ardmore, Pa. “How about those Lakers. Your friend Kobe Bryant #24”
Woolf says Kohler has a huge Lakers collection and hopes to one day open a museum displaying all L.A. memorabilia.
