San Antonio rookie Victor Wembanyama has made history following the sale of his debut basketball jersey. The jersey reportedly sold for a staggering $762,000 on November 21, 2023, a record for any NBA debut rookie jersey and one of the highest tallies in the modern era.
According to ESPN, he wore the jersey against the Dallas Mavericks. The platform also added that the pre-auction estimates were between $80,000 to $120,000. The auction was undertaken by fine arts company Sotheby’s.
In a post on its website, Sotheby’s listed the jersey and noted; “This ‘Rookie Debut Game’ jersey was worn in the first game of Victor Wembanyama’s NBA career. It was also the first home game of his career, and additionally, he registered his first Slam Dunk in this jersey.
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“Worn on Oct. 25, 2023, when the San Antonio Spurs played the Dallas Mavericks, ‘Wemby’ finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block. The Spur lost to the Mavericks, 126-119. This jersey was worn during the 2nd half of the game.”
The auction house also noted that this auction had 176 people bidding across 14 countries with an average of 24 bids per lot. However, the San Antonio rookie’s debut jersey lot produced 62 bids alone, making it one of the “highest levels of participation for a sports memorabilia auction at Sotheby’s.”
Meanwhile, the past auction record for Wembanyama memorabilia was $62,000, paid for a jersey the San Antonio Spurs rookie wore during his summer league debut.
According to ESPN, Kobe Bryant holds the all-time record for rookie uniform. In May 2021, his rookie jersey was sold for $3.69 million.
