Wembanyama Jersey Sells For NBA Rookie Record, Per Sotheby’s

Victor Wembanyama continues to make shockwaves around the NBA and the 7-foot-4 phenom recently extended his reach into the sports memorabilia market. According to fine arts company Sotheby’s, Wembanyama’s game-worn jersey from his NBA debut against the Dallas Mavericks sold for a record-breaking $762,000, the most of any NBA debut rookie jersey ever.

Wembanyama Jersey Sells For 6x More Than Initial Estimate

Not only was Wembanyama’s jersey the highest tally for a debut uniform but is also one of the highest for any rookie jersey in the modern era. Initial estimates priced the jersey between $80,000 to $120,000 but it went for more than six times that amount.

To put things into perspective, a month after his NBA debut in 2020, a Zion Williamson jersey sold for $80,040. Meanwhile, Wembanyama’s game-worn summer league jersey recently went for $62,000. The all-time record for a game-worn rookie jersey was spent in May 2021 on a Kobe Bryant uniform.

Wembanyama Jersey Accounts For 61% Of Auction Total

Recently named the official game-worn source of the NBA, Sotheby’s attracted 176 bidders in 14 different countries for the Wembanayama auction. An average of 24 bids were made per lot but the Wembanyama jersey far surpassed that, reaching 62 bids on its own. Sotheby’s called it one of the “highest levels of participation for a sports memorabilia auction”.

In total, Sotheby’s brought in a total of $1.249 million with Wembanyama accounting for 61% of that total. Other notable rookie debut jerseys included No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller ($27,940) and No. 3 overall pick Scoot Henderson ($19,050).

Will Wembanyama Win NBA Rookie of the Year?

Despite gaudy season averages, Wembanyama has been losing some steam in the NBA Rookie of the Year race. The No. 1 overall pick has scored 18.6 points and hauled in 9.1 rebounds while swatting away 2.6 blocks per game through 14 contests.

However, fellow rookie big man Chet Holmgren has also is posting similar numbers to go along with incredible efficiency numbers on a potentially playoff-bound OKC Thunder team.

Holmgren has shot 56.5 percent from the field, 46.0 percent from 3-point range, and 90.7 percent from the free throw line on his way to averaging 17.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest. As a result, he has leapfrogged Wembanyama in the current rookie rankings.