The sports memorabilia market is an extremely lucrative one, especially when it comes to items featuring icons like late, great Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.
Bryant cards and memorabilia regularly sell for some of the biggest prices in the industry as many want to get a rare product featuring the all-time great.
Just earlier this year, Kobe’s first game-worn jersey sold for $7 million in auction, just showing the lengths some are willing to go for a piece of history. Trading cards also fetch a good amount of money and now a Kobe card just sold for the most any Bryant card has ever been traded for.
According to Fanatics Collect, a private collector spent $2.3 million on a Kobe card, making it the most expensive card ever to feature the Lakers legend:
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨
A collector just spent $2.3 MILLION on Kobe Bryant’s most valuable card ever.
The sale happened privately – shattering the previous record, a 1997-98 Precious Metal Gems Emerald Kobe, which sold for $2M in 2022.
Now, three years later… a new Kobe card… pic.twitter.com/j9vWMoBGoD
— Fanatics Collect (@FanaticsCollect) August 13, 2025
As Fanatics noted, the sale occurred privately, outside of public auctions which has become a trend recently in the sports memorabilia world. Additionally, the identity of the buyer remains unknown, but the fact remains that this card is now the most valuable Bryant card on the market.
The previous Kobe card that held the record was one of just 10 known Precious Metal Gems Emerald copies, a set widely regarded as one of the most important in basketball card history, hence the $2 million sale. That occurred in 2022 so it took just three years for the Lakers’ legend to produce another card to break that record.
As not only one of the greatest, but most popular and beloved players in the history of the NBA, it only makes sense that Kobe memorabilia will continue to fetch huge prices in the market. And it is likely only a matter of time before another card breaks this record as well.
Heritage to auction Kobe Bryant & Michael Jordan trading card; Lakers’ lockers
That moment could come sooner than we think as Heritage Auction announced they will be featuring a 1-of-1 basketball card with signatures from both Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and Chicago Bulls icon Michael Jordan during their Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction on Aug. 23 and 24.
The auction will also include other items such as Lakers lockers used between the 2018-19 and 2024-25 seasons from the likes of LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
