A signed, game-worn Kobe Bryant jersey from the 2003-04 Lakers season — the only known No. 8 Bryant jersey on the market featuring an NBA Finals patch — is headed to the auction block, and it could fetch several million dollars. The jersey is tied to the season widely credited with the birth of Bryant's Black Mamba persona, and it hasn't been publicly offered since the Lakers first auctioned it in 2017.
According to the New York Post, the jersey is being auctioned by The Realest, and Bryant is documented wearing it in at least 17 games, during which the Lakers went 16-1 overall and 8-0 in the playoffs. Bryant wore the jersey during all three Western Conference series-clinching victories that postseason, the outlet reports, including the run that carried Los Angeles to the 2004 NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons. Per the same report, Bryant scored 45 points against the Warriors and 42 points against the Spurs in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals while wearing the jersey.
The 2003-04 season marked Bryant's final playoff run alongside Shaquille O'Neal, and it's the campaign the Post says fans and collectors associate with the emergence of his Black Mamba persona. The jersey's last documented on-court appearance came on May 31, 2004, when Bryant and the Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves to clinch the Western Conference title, a victory that sent them on to face Detroit in the Finals, according to Complex.
From Jersey Retirement Night to the Auction Block
The jersey was originally auctioned by the Lakers on the night the franchise retired both of Bryant's numbers. The team retired No. 8 and No. 24 together on December 18, 2017, at Staples Center, making Bryant the first player in NBA history to have two numbers retired by the same franchise, per CassiusLife. Bryant wore No. 8 from 1996 to 2006 before switching to No. 24 for the rest of his career.
The jersey will make its public debut at ComplexCon in Los Angeles on October 3-4, according to the Post's report, before traveling through Asia afterward. Bidding on the piece closes November 8.
How It Stacks Up Against Bryant's Other Big Sales
Bryant's current record for a game-worn jersey at auction stands at $5,849,700, set at a Sotheby's sale in February 2023 for a signed No. 24 jersey he wore during his 2007-08 MVP season, a run that spanned 25 games, according to Anadolu Agency. Before that sale, his highest-selling game-worn jersey was a signed 1996-97 Lakers rookie jersey that brought $3.69 million through Goldin Auctions in May 2021 — photo-matched to five games and his rookie photo shoot — while another rookie playoff-matched jersey sold for $2.73 million via SCP Auctions in June 2022, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time.
Basketball's all-time jersey record belongs to Michael Jordan, whose 1998 NBA Finals Game 1 “Last Dance” jersey sold for $10.1 million at Sotheby's in September 2022, a sale that itself surpassed the previous sports jersey record held by Diego Maradona's $9.3 million 1986 World Cup jersey, per Sports Collectors Digest. The broader record for any sports jersey sold at public auction belongs to Babe Ruth, whose 1932 New York Yankees World Series “Called Shot” jersey — photo-matched to Game 3 at Wrigley Field — sold for $24.12 million at Heritage Auctions in August 2024, according to CBS News.
The Realest's Growing Footprint in Sports Memorabilia
The Realest, founded by Scott Keeney, known as DJ Skee, uses physical inspection alongside tamper-proof, witness-based authentication technology to verify sports and entertainment collectibles, according to Muse by Clio. Keeney built his career as a DJ and media executive before moving into high-end authentication.
The platform set an all-time public auction record for baseball footwear in August 2026, selling Shohei Ohtani's signed game-worn cleats from the 2025 MLB Tokyo Series for $440,055 — a piece that featured his Japanese kanji signature and dirt from the Tokyo Dome, as Hoodline previously reported. The Realest has also built out official authentication partnerships across pro sports, becoming the Cleveland Cavaliers' official authentication partner in February 2026 and partnering with MLB Players, Inc. in October 2025, according to Rock Entertainment Group.
Demand for Bryant memorabilia has remained strong since his death. Bryant died at age 41 alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, on January 26, 2020, after playing all 20 of his NBA seasons with the Lakers, CBS News has reported.
