Ten million dollars. That is the starting price for the legendary Nike Kobe 6 ‘Grinch’, the green sneakers with which Kobe Bryant played the 2010 Christmas game against LeBron James’ Miami Heat. The auction is being held by Joopiter, the trading platform created by artist Pharrell Williams.
The bright green, scale-textured model was born as a tribute to Kobe’s own nickname, the ‘Black Mamba’. But its debut on December 25 changed history: since then, the basketball world has renamed them ‘Grinch’, in reference to the grumpy creature that hates Christmas.
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“Their minimum price is $10 million,” Caitlin Donovan, Joopiter’s global head of sales, told EFE. The sneakers, autographed by Bryant himself, are on display this week in Beverly Hills along with other collectibles from the Los Angeles legend, awaiting bidders with deep pockets and devotion.
That day at Staples Center — now Crypto.com Arena — Kobe scored 17 points in a gray afternoon for the Lakers, who were defeated 80-96 by James, Wade and Bosh’s Heat. Even so, those sneakers became an instant icon.
It is not the first time that an object linked to the Lakers genius has broken the mold: last August, a card signed by Bryant and Michael Jordan sold for more than $12.9 million, a record figure for a sports card in the United States. Another blow of eternity for the legend of number 24.
