Kobe Bryant’s father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, has decided to auction off his son’s ring from the 2000 NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The 69-year-old Bryant posted the listing for the 14-karat gold, 40-diamond ring on March 9 on the auction website Goldin. The ring spells out “LAKERS,” “WORLD CHAMPIONS,” and “BRYANT,” and it also has his jersey number, “8,” in gold. Although it seems identical to the original, Kobe actually had this ring made as a duplicate for his dad and kept the real one for himself.
Defeating the Indiana Pacers in a best-of-seven NBA Finals series in 2000 was a watershed moment for Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his legendary tenure with the Lakers, Kobe earned a total of five championships.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Kobe gave his parents the ring when he received it, and that in 2013, they thought about selling it along with Bryant’s extensive collection of memorabilia, which included uniforms from Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania.
The deceased athlete’s mother Pamela and Joe were sued by the player, who claimed he had not authorized their sale of the things. After reaching a settlement, Bryant’s parents issued a statement expressing their “regret” for their conduct and words over the Kobe Bryant auction items.
In a statement released at the time, they expressed their utmоst regret fоr any cоnfusiоn оr harm they may have caused their sоn, while alsо expressing gratitude fоr the financial suppоrt he had given them thrоughоut the years.Given thаt Kоbe, аlоng with his thirteen-yeаr-оld dаughter Giаnnа аnd seven оther fаmily friends, died in а helicоpter crаsh in Jаnuаry 2020, sоme hаve questiоned why Jоe wоuld nоt wish tо retаin the ring аnd hаve criticized his decisiоn tо put it up fоr sаle.
It was widely believed that the late star’s parents, Joe (also a former NBA player) and Pamela, had a strained relationship with their son since at least 2001, when he was married to Vanessa Bryant.Despite reports that Kobe and his father had patched things up by the time Joe became a coach for the Los Angeles Sparks in 2005, the lawsuit in 2013 only served to heighten the speculation. Notably missing at their son’s last NBA game in April 2016 were Kobe’s parents as well.
Prices have risen to $141,000 as of Thursday afternoon, and bidding on the ring expires on March 30.
