However, Sotheby's stated that the jersey was first seen on Bryant during his first NBA media day appearance on Oct. 1, 1996. He wore it two days after his first preseason game, on Oct. 18.

Sotheby’s announced that they have sold Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s first game-worn jersey for $7 million. This sets a record for any Bryant sports memorabilia sold at auction.

The $7 million figure surpasses the previous record of $5.85 million paid for Bryant’s signed, game-worn jersey from the 2007-08 season in which he won his only NBA Most Valuable Player award.

A jersey that Kobe Bryant wore during his 1996-97 rookie season with the Los Angeles Lakers has sold for $7 million at an auction with Sotheby's on Thursday. The jersey was photo-matched to seven ...

The jersey Kobe Bryant wore in his NBA debut sold for $7 million in auction on Thursday. The sale sets a record for any memorabilia tied to the Los Angeles Lakers legend, per Reuters, who died in ...

The jersey Kobe Bryant wore in his NBA debut sold for $7 million in auction on Thursday. Per auction house Sotheby’s, the sale sets a record for any memorabilia tied to the Los Angeles Lakers ...

The sale, which took place on April 24, established a new record for any Kobe Bryant jersey, substantially exceeding the previous high mark of $5.85 million paid for a jersey from his 2008 MVP season.

This huge sale of this treasured piece of Kobe Bryant memorabilia follows a month after Sotheby's sold a Michael Jordan jersey for just over $4 million. Per my colleague Adam Cellurale at ...

US-CELEBRITY-AUCTION-NBA-BASKETBALL Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers game-worn jersey from his rookie debut game in November of 1996… ...