Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

News

Kobe Bryant Sues Mom To Stop Her From Auctioning Off His High School Swag

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.

Kobe Bryant is locked in a legal battle with his dear ol' mom who plans to auction off memorabilia from her famous spawn. Awkward!

Pamela Bryant says she has the right to put up hundreds of items that once belonged to her son. Those items include varsity letters from his days playing on a high school team in New Jersey, a 2000 NBA championship ring and lots of jerseys he's worn through the year, according to USA Today. She's already gotten a $450,000 advance that she plans to use to buy a house in Nevada.

The auction for the items is set for June, but Kobe Bryant's lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to the auction house Goldin Auctions, demanding that the auction be canceled and all the items returned to Kobe.

"Mr. Bryant's personal property has ended up in the possession of someone who does not lawfully own it," Mark Campbell of Loeb & Loeb in Los Angeles told USA Today.

But Pamela Bryant says the memorabilia belongs to her. The attorney for Goldin's requested a court order allowing the sale to continue. In the filing, mom claims that her son gave her everything, saying "Here Mom, these are for you." She adds that she was been keeping all those items in storage in West Berlin for the past five years at a cost of $1,500 per month.

The filing states that all those items from Bryant's past could bring in $1.5 million at auction.

One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.

If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today