Judge Puts Hold on Kobe Bryant Memorabilia Sale


Kobe Bryant’s bizarre legal battle with his own mother took an interesting twist, as a judge issued a temporary restraining order on her sale of his memorabilia. Per the LA Times and TMZ: “Bryant’s lawyers have asked New Jersey-based Goldin Auctions to terminate plans to sell items from Bryant’s high school days and early Lakers career. They had been put up for sale by his mother, Pamela, who received a $450,000 advance from the auction house to help purchase a Nevada home. Her son informed her five years ago he no longer wanted the memorabilia, Pamela Bryant said. Kobe Bryant denied granting that permission in his response to a federal lawsuit filed by Goldin Auctions demanding to know why the auction should be stopped. ‘I confronted her about her false statement that I had given my memorabilia to her,’ Bryant wrote in a filing Wednesday at the U.S District Court in Camden, N.J., according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. ‘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.’ […] A judge just gave Kobe Bryant a reprieve from his mother’s attempt to sell his memorabilia by shutting down the sale at least for now. A judge issued a temporary restraining order against Goldin Auctions, prohibiting them from selling Kobe’s jerseys, championship rings, trophies, and lots of other stuff until a full hearing can be held next Monday.”