Kobe Bryant-Michael Jordan sports card sells for all-time record of nearly $13 million
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The record for the amount paid for a sports card was broken by Kobe Bryant on what would have been his 47th birthday ... with some help from his “big brother,” Michael Jordan.
The 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs card featuring Bryant and Jordan was sold by Heritage Auctions late Saturday night for $12.932 million. The most paid for a sports card previously had been $12.6 million for a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card in a 2022 Heritage auction.
The buyer was anonymous at the time of the sale. On Monday, however, Kevin O’Leary — known as “Mr. Wonderful” to viewers of ABC’s “Shark Tank” — revealed that he and fellow investors Matt “Shyne150” Allen and Paul Warshaw had teamed up to make the historic purchase.
“I’m very proud to own it,” O’Leary said during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” adding that the one-of-one card will largely remain in a vault.
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“I mean, I may handle it once in my life, but it’s an image that is passed around digitally. You showed it. It’s on my phone. It remains there that way,” O’Leary said. “Everybody knows about this card. .... It’s one of the most coveted pieces on Earth. It’s no different than collectible watches in some way, an F.P. Journe, which I’m wearing on my wrist. It reminds me of that market. It’s so rare that the prices continue to appreciate.”
O’Leary said that he doesn’t anticipate the card hitting the market again during his lifetime.
“It’s going to be a part of an index that I’m going to continue to grow along with my partners,” he said. “We look at it no different than our Bitcoin holdings, our Ethereum holdings, our gold holdings. ... I don’t see it any differently than any of those other asset classes. However, it’s a lot more fun. The people I’m meeting in the hobby are truly crazy.”
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As of early Friday afternoon, bidding for the card had reached $7.015 million. That already shattered the previous record price for a basketball card — — the $5.9 million paid for the 2009-10 Panini National Treasures Stephen Curry Logoman Autograph card in a 2021 private estate sale.
At that time, Heritage director of sports collectibles Chris Ivy told The Times that he thought the card would likely “end up somewhere in the $8-million range” when the bidding closed Saturday night, although he added that he “wouldn’t be shocked” if it went for $10 million or more.
The Dual Logoman Autographs series of cards features the images and signatures of two iconic players, as well as NBA logo patches from a game-worn jersey from each player. Jordan appeared on eight such cards and Bryant was on 11, but this is the only one that paired the two of them.
“It’s the only one that has Kobe and Jordan on it, and it has both their Logoman logos, and it’s signed by both,” Ivy said, “and so kind of all those factors combined together to make this the top card for modern card collectors. And we’re seeing that in the price that it’s generating right now.”
Cards featuring Jordan and Bryant individually haven’t brought in nearly as much cash, with Jordan’s top seller going for $2.93 million in 2024 and Bryant’s going for $2.3 million earlier this month.
Ivy said it is a coincidence that the auction ended on Bryant’s birthday.
The beloved Los Angeles icon and daughter, Gianna, were among the nine people who died in a Jan. 26, 2020, helicopter crash in Calabasas. Jordan was one of the speakers at the father and daughter’s public memorial held on Feb. 24, 2020, at Staples Center.
Michael Jordan was tearful while eulogizing Kobe Bryant, who at one time aggravated him with all his questions. Then Jordan realized Bryant’s passion.
“Maybe it surprised people that Kobe and I were very close friends,” Jordan said. “But we were very close friends. Kobe was my dear friend, he was like a little brother.”
He added: “What Kobe Bryant was to me was the inspiration that someone truly cared about the way that I played the game or the way that he wanted to play the game.
“He wanted to be the best basketball player that he could be. And as I got to know him, I wanted to be the best big brother that I could be. To do that you have to put up with the aggravation, the late-night calls or the dumb questions. I took great pride as I got to know Kobe Bryant that he was just trying to be a better person, a better basketball player.”
