Overview
- The Sotheby’s sale of the Lakers’ 2000 Finals Game 6 ball closed at $508,000, the highest price paid for a championship-clinching basketball.
- Sotheby’s cites the previous benchmark as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 2025 Game 7 ball, which sold for $107,950.
- The Spalding ball is signed by Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and other members of the 1999–00 Lakers, with authentication documentation included.
- The artifact ties to Los Angeles’ 116–111 title-sealing win over the Pacers, the first championship of the Bryant–O’Neal era that began a 2000–02 three-peat.
- ESPN reports the same auction also sold a 2001 Lakers clincher for $317,500, Michael Jordan rookie-year Air Ships for $698,500, John Capps’ six Bulls title rings for $406,400, and a Shohei Ohtani Jackie Robinson Day jersey for $330,200.