Kobe Bryant in court against mom!

Kobe Bryant has entered into legal proceedings against his own mother in a bid to stop her auctioning off valuable memorabilia from his early career. While most of us would stop short of heading to the courts against mom, it seems for the “Black Mamba” it is no problem, especially as he sees it as a last resort.

An auction House in New Jersey is hoping to sell around $1.5 million worth of Kobe Bryant memorabilia from the player’s days in school in Pennsylvania and from his early years with the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant has attempted to stop the sale but the auction house filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Camden on Thursday to allow the sale to happen. The company has been contacted by lawyers representing Kobe Bryant who have told them to cancel the event, planned for June.

The sale includes 100 items and among the mementos up for sale are jerseys, gear, and other apparel from Bryant’s days at Lower Merion High School. There is also a signed ball from the 2000 NBA championship game, as well as a trophy for being the outstanding player at the 1995 Adidas ABCD basketball camp.

The collection continues with letters and a collection of rings including the 1996 Pennsylvania high school championship, a pair that the Lakers made for Bryant’s parents for the 2000 NBA championship and one from the 1998 NBA All-Star game.

The items will be sold by Goldin Auctions in Berlin, N.J. after the company struck a deal with Pamela Bryant to sell the memorabilia. In the court filing it is revealed that Pamela Bryant told the auction house that Kobe Bryant had told her five years ago that he had no use for the items. Goldin Auctions advanced Ms Bryant $450,000 for the right to sell the items.

“Kobe Bryant indicated to Pamela Bryant that the items belonged to her and that he had no interest in them,” the auction house’s attorneys wrote. So she put them in a $1,500-per-month New Jersey storage unit.
Due to the advance, Goldin Auctions insists the sale must go ahead, but Kobe Bryant is likely to attempt an injunction to stop it.