Bryant wore the uniform for 25 games during the 2007-2008 NBA season, during which he was voted as the league’s Most Valuable Player, his only MVP award. It is the only home jersey he wore during the team’s entire playoff run that season.

The Lakers ultimately lost to the Boston Celtics in the NBA final, winning two of six games.

“This is the only gold jersey Kobe wore in the 2008 NBA Playoffs leading to the 2008 NBA Finals, including when the Lakers were crowned Western Conference Champions. In this jersey, Kobe advanced to the 2008 NBA Finals for the first time since Shaquille O’Neal was traded from the Lakers. This was an important moment in Kobe’s career, in his conquest to win his first title without O’Neal,” the Sotheby’s description reads.

An autographed game-worn Bryant jersey from the 1996-1997 season sold for $3.7 million in 2021, the previous high for his memorabilia.

Sotheby’s announced the auction at the start of the month, and estimated it would bring in between $5 million and $7 million.

As a comparison, a jersey worn by Argentina soccer legend, the late Diego Maradona during the country’s victorious 1986 World Cup of Soccer in Mexico, sold for $9.3 million at auction in London last year.

Bryant transcended basketball, becoming a cultural icon.

Bill Belichick, considered by many to be the greatest NFL coach of all time, once enlisted Bryant’s help to motivate his New England Patriots team. The Philadelphia Eagles, which play in Sunday’s Super Bowl LVII, have Bryant’s “10 rules” hanging in their home locker room, also as motivation.

“The respect and reverence he commanded far exceeded him being a legendary player,” Belichick said at the time.

Bryant, 41, and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif., on Jan. 26, 2020.