Roommates, the loss of Kobe Bryant has hit hard for his family, his friends, and all those he has inspired over the years. He will forever be remembered as one of the greatest athletes of all time and a wonderful husband and father, but some folks are definitely doing too much!
Usually when some of our idols pass away, people take it upon themselves to make a quick buck off of the tragedy, and it’s clearly no different for Kobe and his daughter Gianna Bryant. Nike tried to curb what some resellers could make in terms of profits, but many people have turned to eBay to auction some of their most prized possessions.
As of now, one eBay seller is auctioning a basketball signed by Kobe and the rest of the Lakers’ 2002 3-peat championship team, and the highest bidder is looking to pay a whopping $3 million to get their hands on it. Another seller has listed a “one-of-a-kind” ball signed by Kobe after he won his first championship title. That ball is currently going for $2.8 million!
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People have taken it so far as to put Kobe’s “MambaForever.com” URL up for sale on the eBay site and the bidding starts at $1 million. The same price tag has been attached to a pre-owned set of Kobe trading cards.
Harvard University marketing professor, Denver D’Rozario, has studied the science behind using dead celebrities as marketing tools, and he had this to say about the current state of Kobe’s merchandise:
“Fans suddenly realize the person they love is not there anymore and they want to buy things to be close to that person,” D’Rozario told CNN. “Some people buy it for commemoration purposed because they assume it will increase in value as a collector’s item. It gives them a connection to the person they love.”
Similar phenomena happened when some of the biggest celebrities passed away, including Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, and Princess Diana.
Please continue to pray for all of those impacted by this great loss, Roomies!
