コービー氏のユニホーム、約７．６億円で落札

【ニューヨークＡＦＰ＝時事】米プロバスケットボール（ＮＢＡ）のレジェンドの故コービー・ブライアント氏が着用したロサンゼルス・レイカーズのユニホームが９日、競売大手サザビーズのオークションで５８０万ドル（約７億６４００万円）で落札された。（写真は、米ニューヨークにあるサザビーズのオークションハウスで展示されたブライアント氏のユニホーム）
　ブライアント氏の関連品としては史上最高額となったが、７００万ドル（約９億２２００万円）の予想最高落札額には届かなかった。
　匿名の所有者が出品した同ユニホームは、レイカーズを象徴する黄色と紫の背番号２４で、２００７－０８シーズンに計２５試合で着用されたもの。ブライアント氏は同シーズンに自身唯一の最優秀選手（ＭＶＰ）に輝いた。同じユニホームは前回２０１３年にも出品されたが、当時の落札価格はわずか１万８６７８ドル（約２４６万円）だった。
　通算５度のＮＢＡファイナル制覇と２個の五輪金メダルに輝くブライアント氏は、２０２０年にヘリコプター墜落事故で死去した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/02/10-17:35）

A jersey worn by US basketball legend Kobe Bryant -- who died three years ago in a tragic helicopter accident -- sold at auction for $5.8 million on Thursday.
The sale by Sotheby's in New York set a new record for any Bryant item at auction but came in under the upper pre-sale estimate of $7 million.
The price was comfortably more than the previous high of $3.7 million paid for a jersey worn by the Los Angeles Lakers titan, who won five NBA titles and two Olympic gold medals.
Game-worn sports memorabilia is big business.
Michael Jordan's 1998 NBA Finals jersey, which sold for $10.1 million in September 2022, is currently the most valuable such item.
Diego Maradona's Hand of God jersey sold for $9.3 million at Sotheby's in London last year.
Bryant's iconic yellow-and-purple number 24 jersey, put up for sale by an anonymous owner, was worn by the legendary Laker in 25 games during the 2007-2008 season, Bryant's only as the NBA's Most Valuable Player.
In one of those appearances -- a post-season game against the Denver Nuggets on April 23, 2008 -- photographers famously captured Bryant celebrating after a successful three-point shot, gripping his jersey and letting out a primal scream.
The image has since been plastered on walls around the world by street artists, especially in Los Angeles, where Bryant played his entire professional career.
The last time this jersey was put up for auction, in 2013, it only fetched $18,678.
It was years before Bryant's fatal helicopter crash, after which his April 2008 celebration became the image that galvanized the public, Sotheby's said.