The Lakers missed Kobe Bryant on the court, and lord knows that they needed him as they got swept in the first round of the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs.
His Achilles injury most definitely kept him away from helping his teammates, but his injury didn’t keep him from another kind of court. And instead of facing off against Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, in this court he’s going one-on-one against his own mother.
According to legal documents, Bryant is in a court battle with his mother in an attempt to keep her from auctioning off memorabilia from his high school days in Pennsylvania and early years with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Among the valuables scheduled for auction include jerseys, practice gear from Lower Merion High School, varsity letters, a trophy from the 1995 Adidas ABCD basketball camp, and a signed basketball from the 2000 NBA championship game.
Several rings, including Bryant’s 1996 Pennsylvania high school championship and 1998 NBA All-Star game, are also set to be auctioned off in June by Goldin Auctions of Berlin, New Jersey.
Bryant’s mother, Pamela Bryant, reportedly received an initial payment of $450,000 from the auction company. Pamela Bryant said she needed the money in order to purchase a new home in Nevada.
According to ESPN, although Bryant offered to pay his mother $250,000 for the home, she reportedly turned down the offer, insisting she needed $450,000.
After the younger Bryant refused to fork over the additional $200,000, Pamela Bryant struck up the deal with Goldin Auctions for $450,000 in up-front cash.
During the 2012-2013 season Bryant earned a total of $27,849,000 – the highest salary in the NBA.
According to many reports, Bryant was completely unaware his belongings were slated for auction until just a few hours before the auction company publicly announced the sale on Tuesday morning.
By the end of that same day, Bryant’s attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter ordering the auction house to call off the sale and return the items.
“Mr. Bryant’s personal property has ended up in the possession of someone who does not lawfully own it,” Bryant’s attorney Mark Campbell said. “We look forward to resolving this legal matter through the legal system.”
However, the elder Bryant claimed the items were hers, and, as such, stated the items should still be up for auction next month.
“Kobe Bryant indicated to Pamela Bryant that the items belonged to her and that he had no interest in them,” the auction house’s attorneys wrote in a lawsuit filed Thursday.
Kenneth Goldin, owner of the auction house, says he can’t cancel the auction because he’s already advanced $450,000 to Bryant’s mother and put money into advertising the auction.
It’s sad to see a mother-son relationship be aired out this way in the public, but whose side are you on Kobe’s or Mamma Bryant’s? Should she be able to auction off her son’s belongings like that? But I guess the bigger question is why would she? You would think that with her having a son making nearly $30 million a year, that he could easily afford to help her get whatever house she’s trying to buy.
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