1996 Kobe Bryant Professional Debut Full Ticket, PSA Authentic--The Only Known Example!...

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Sold on Feb 26, 2022 for:

$40,800.00 Bid Source: Internet bidder

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1996 Kobe Bryant Professional Debut Full Ticket, PSA Authentic--The Only Known Example! He wouldn't take the court until 5 PM, but as the gates to the Pyramid arena on the campus of Long Beach State University opened at 10 AM, the line for tickets already wrapped around the distinctive structure and into the parking lot. Soon they were standing three-deep at the upper railings, well past the official 4,000 capacity of the facility, while over 2,000 curious fans were turned away empty-handed. A few desperate late arrivals set off false alarms as they attempted to breach the fire exits. In the forty-eight hours since the Lakers announced the finalization of a trade to acquire the Charlotte Hornets' first-round draft pick in exchange for center Vlade Divac, nearly all of southern California was buzzing with anticipation to lay eyes upon the prep school phenom named Kobe Bean Bryant.

The player who Magic Johnson would later proclaim, "the greatest who's ever worn the purple and gold" donned those colors for the very first time on July 13, 1996, day one of twenty years of service to the Los Angeles Lakers franchise. In what could only be interpreted as a demonstration of the enormous confidence that Lakers brass had in the seventeen-year-old guard, Kobe was issued the number "32" for his coming out party, a tribute to his own personal hoops hero. He'd score twenty-seven points in twenty-six minutes of play, decimating the ranks of doubters convinced that the Lakers' risky personnel move would backfire. Detroit assistant coach Alvin Gentry, who helmed the opposing Pistons in that FILA Summer Pro League contest, quickly joined the congregation of believers, telling reporters post-game, "I don't want to compare anybody to Michael Jordan. But he's Jordan-like in the way he makes spectacular plays, the way he can get his shot, the way he can handle the ball, and he has a great court temperament."

Two decades later, Kobe Bryant would leave the professional game as the most prolific contributor to Los Angeles Lakers history, owning the franchise record for games (1,346), minutes (48,637) and points (33,643). He joins Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only Lakers to win five NBA Championships.

This is arguably the most significant early Kobe rarity ever to take its turn upon the hobby's auction block, the one and only full ticket from Bryant's professional debut known to survive to present day, the sole entry in the PSA population at any grade level. There are just four stubs. To provide some degree of valuation context, we note that the second-finest full ticket from Tiger Woods' professional debut (just a month after Kobe's) commanded a winning bid of $87,000 in our November 2021 catalog auction, a figure sure to be dwarfed by the one and only finest example on offer in this Platinum Night event. One of two PSA EX-MT 6 stubs from Michael Jordan's first regular season game made global headlines in December 2021 when it set a world record for tickets at $264,000.

While the precise history of this lone survivor has been lost, a handwritten "KB" on verso hints at the tantalizing possibility that it once belonged to Bryant himself, left unused because his family was already well-known in NBA circles and thus waved in beyond the turnstiles. A vertical center crease suggests the ticket was folded for storage in a shirt pocket that historic afternoon, but the evidence is only apparent upon close inspection. Certainly any condition faults must be forgiven in light of the singular rarity and immeasurable importance of this hobby Holy Grail. Encapsulated by PSA, Authentic.