Why in the world would Joe “Jellybean” Bryant put his son Kobe’s 2000 NBA championship ring up for auction?

Is the legendary Lakers player’s father implying that he and Kobe’s mother, Pamela, are struggling financially and would need the estimated $200,000 that the ring would bring in just to get by?

Is the goal to make Kobe’s widow, Vanessa, feel uncomfortable so that she will give them a portion of the reported $600-million fortune Kobe left her after he died in a helicopter crаsh four years ago?

It’s undoubtedly just the most recent development in the tumultuous relationship that Kobe’s parents had with their son throughout his 20-year Lakers career and his 2001 marriage to Vanessa, whom he met in 1999. Notably, his parents did not attend the Dana Point wedding.

The 2000 championship ring and numerous other memorabilia connected to Kobe went up for auction on March 9 by the same auction house Joe and Pamela Bryant employed eleven years prior in a failed attempt to sell the same ring. After twelve bids, the starting bid of $33,000 has increased to $94,000. The deadline for bidding is March 30.The 40 diamonds in the 14-karat gold ring are accompanied with the words “Lakers,” “Bryant,” “World Champions,” and “Bling Bling.” How much is it worth? A replica 2000 championship ring that her son gave her was auctioned off by Pamela Bryant in 2019 and brought in $206,000.

Vanessa and Kobe’s parents have not made any public remarks regarding the ongoing auction.

There is a mixed response on social media, although there is a clear indignation bias. However, nothing has had the same impact as the tweet that Kobe sent out on May 4, 2013, the morning after he discovered that his parents were trying to sell his priceless possessions, which included his two 2000 championship rings, a signed basketball from the Lakers team, his 1996 Pennsylvania high school championship ring, sweat suits he wore to Lower Merion (Pa.) High School, and a childhood surfboard.

“Where do you draw the line in the sand when you give Give GIVE and they take Take TAKE?” Kobe tweeted along with the following hashtags: “love?”, “gave me no warning,” and “hurt beyond measure.”Kobe sued his parents, claiming he never gave them the go-ahead to sell the goods. In a court document, Pamela Bryant stated that she intended to use the $450,000 advance she had been given to buy a house in Nevada. Attorneys reached a settlement that permits Kobe’s parents to sell six pieces of memorabilia for a combined $500,000 and to apologize publicly.

The statement said, “We regret our actions and statements regarding the memorabilia from the Kobe Bryant auction.” “We value the financial support our son has given us over the years and apologize for any misunderstanding or unintentional pаin we may have caused.”The argument between the father and son wasn’t the first or the last. During the 2013 auction controversy, Mike Bresnahan of The Times put it so succinctly: “Bryant’s career with the Lakers has often been pushed aside by internal family matters, the latest in a string of cheerless events being the recent court bаttle over his memorabilia.”

Growing up in Philadelphia, where he completed his high school education, and Italy, where his father played professionally for eight seasons following his eight-year NBA career, Kobe had a tight bond with his parents and two older sisters.

When he appeared on the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” in 1996 at the age of 17, he brought his parents, who were beaming with pride, to the audience. The astute Kobe responded to Leno’s lighthearted question, “You don’t have to cut the lawn ever again?” with a laugh and the statement, “The good thing now is I get to give my parents an allowance.”

When Kobe started dating the former Vanessa Laine, a 17-year-old student at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, the two became estranged. According to Kobe, his parents were unhappy that their son was so devoted to Vanessa and that she wasn’t Black. Kobe informed The Times this information.

Kobe and Vanessa relocated to Newport Coast from Pacific Palisades in order to be nearer to Vanessa’s family’s Orange County roots. When he won his second championship with the Lakers two months after the wedding, he sobbed in the shower while holding the trophy and subsequently said, “That was about my dad.”