Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant wore this purple Lakers road jersey during his rookie season of 1996-97. Bryant was selected with the 13th overall pick of the draft out of Lower Merion High School by the Charlotte Hornets, and immediately flipped to the Lakers with Vlade Divac heading the other way. Bryant played in 76 games for the Lakers his rookie year, coming off the bench to average 7.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3 assists per 36 minutes. Bryant’s rise was extraordinary, and by his sophomore year had already picked up his first of 18 All-Star nods. The lifelong Laker played until the end of the 2015-2016 season and will be posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

This purple mesh jersey has “LAKERS” sewn on in white and yellow tackle twill while his now-retired number “8” sewn on the chest in white and yellow tackle twill. “BRYANT” is sewn on in yellow and white tackle twill while the second “8” is sewn on the back of the jersey in white and yellow tackle twill. A gold NBA logo patch is sewn on the chest, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the National Basketball Association. A Los Angeles Lakers "DESIGNED & TAILORED 96-97 EXCLUSIVELY FOR LOS ANGELES LAKERS BODY LENGTH +4" tag and a Champion size “44” tags are sewn on the front left tail. Bryant signed this jersey twice – once on the front in blue marker on the middle the “8” and the same blue marker on the middle of the “8” on the back. This jersey displays moderate wear with loose threads and puckering of the twill letters and numbers as would be expected from a jersey that has been worn several times. This comes with a LOA from Sports Investors Authentication (200801E1) for the game use and a LOA from Beckett Authentication for the signatures.

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