Feb 25, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) reacts during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Should you not be familiar with the story, Bryant issued a cease and desist order against an auction house in New Jersey to stop them from selling his memorabilia.
So what’s the big deal?
It was Bryant’s mother attempting to sell the items for a new home in Vegas.
TMZ of all sources was the first to break the most recent turn in the case, reporting that a judge has stopped any attempt to sell the memorabilia – at least for now. There will be a full hearing held Monday.
It’s a sloppy, drawn out argument between the two, and for the sake of brevity I’ll keep this short. Bryant says his mother did not have permission to sell or take the items, his mother said she did.
“I confronted her about her false statement that I had given my memorabilia to her,” said Bryant on what he wrote in the papers he filed Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in Camden, N.J.,
“I said to her, ‘Mom, you know I never told you that you could have the memorabilia.’
“Her response was, ‘Yes, but you never said you wanted it either.’ Of course, this is untrue, since my wife and I requested that she return my memorabilia several years earlier.”
According to the LA Times, Bryant went on to state that “the items hold tremendous sentimental value for me, and I desire to hand down my well-earned memorabilia to my children.”
The items include two championship rings, a signed basketball from the Lakers’ championship team (2000), his high school championship ring and shorts, as well as two high school jerseys and numbers trophies.
Kenneth Golden, the auction house’s owner, has already advanced Bryant’s mother $450,000 – which complicates matters. He expects to make $1 million off the items should he be able to sell them.
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