Kobe Bryant & Barack Obama Multi-Signed Basketball | 11 Signatures

While President Barack Obama celebrated his historic election victory in November 2008, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers were on a mission to return to the NBA Finals.

After falling to the Boston Celtics in 6 games in the 2008 NBA Finals, the Lakers entered the 2008-2009 NBA season as the betting favorites to win the Western Conference and compete for a championship. Though Bryant won his first and only MVP award the previous season, he cared less about his individual success and more about winning another NBA title. It was no secret that Bryant badly wanted to prove that he could win a championship without Shaquille O’Neal as a teammate. 

The highly motivated Lakers finished the regular season with a 65-17 record and earned the 1st seed in the West. In the playoffs they dispatched the Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, and Orlando Magic to capture the franchise’s 15th title and first since 2002.

Meanwhile, President Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America on January 20, 2009. 

In January 2010, Bryant and his Lakers teammates visited the White House to commemorate their championship run from the year before. At one point during his remarks, President Obama, well-known for his basketball fandom, said that Bryant was “one of the most competitive players I’ve ever seen.” 

Sotheby’s is proud to present this multi-signed basketball featuring the signatures of Barack Obama and Kobe Bryant along with other members of the 2009 Lakers championship team including Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and head coach Phil Jackson. The ball is also signed by President Obama’s personal aide (and former Duke University basketball player) Reggie Love. 

The multi-signed basketball is accompanied by a letter from James Spence Authentication in regards to the signatures. The letter notes that the ball features 11 total signatures but only explicitly lists Obama, Bryant, Gasol, Odom, Jackson, and Love. The remaining signatures include Andrew Bynum, Shannon Brown, DJ Mbenga, Brian Shaw, and Jim Cleamons. Sotheby's confirmed with James Spence Authentication that all 11 signatures on the basketball were deemed authentic.

The Baden brand basketball features the Presidential Seal and is housed in a plastic display case with a brass nameplate listing the signatories.