Lakers championship basketballs net big bucks
Dan HajduckyDec 12, 2025, 01:32 PM ET Close Dan Hajducky is a staff writer for ESPN. He has an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University and played on the men’s soccer teams at Fordham and Southern Connecticut State universities. Championship-clinching basketballs from the 2000 NBA Finals — which marked Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s…
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Dan Hajducky
Championship-clinching basketballs from the 2000 NBA Finals — which marked Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s first title together and the Los Angeles Lakers‘ first title since 1988 — and the 2001 NBA Finals, the second in the Lakers’ three-peat, sold for $508,000 and $317,500, respectively, at Sotheby’s.
The balls are both signed by at least a dozen Lakers; the 2000 ball is signed by both Bryant and O’Neal, and the 2001 ball is signed by Bryant. Both balls include photo-matching letters from companies MeiGray and Sports Investors Authentication as well as letters from Professional Sports Authenticator verifying authenticity of the signatures.
The $508,000 for the 2000 Finals ball is the most ever paid for a championship-clinching ball, according to Sotheby’s. The previous record belonged to the ball from the 2025 NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s first post-relocation title, which sold for $107,950 at Sotheby’s in July.
In the same auction, a pair of game-worn and signed Michael Jordan “Air Ship” sneakers from his rookie season, worn on Dec. 2, 1984 — Jordan’s first matchup with Magic Johnson, a 113-112 Bulls victory — sold for $698,500. A complete set of six Chicago Bulls title rings, owned by longtime team security guard John Capps, pulled in $406,400, and Shohei Ohtani‘s signed jersey from 2024 Jackie Robinson Day brought in $330,200.
The Jordan sneakers include photo-matching letters from MeiGray and SIA and an authentication letter from PSA on Jordan’s signature.
The rings feature Capps’ name on the side. The Ohtani jersey features stickers from MeiGray and MLB Authenticated, as well as Fanatics, regarding the veracity of the signature.
The shirt Rory McIlroy wore while clinching his 2011 U.S. Open victory sold for $146,050, a record price for a piece of McIlroy memorabilia at auction.
