With friends and fans celebrating the life of Kobe Bryant this week, a cast member of A&E’s ‘Storage Wars’ now claims to have discovered a treasure trove of the Lakers legend’s personal memorabilia in a unit that recently sold at auction for just $375.
The storage unit purportedly contained 35 pairs of shoes, practice gear, a laminated credential with Bryant’s nickname, Mamba, and even a mink coat.
Rene Nezhoda, who regularly appears on the A&E reality show, revealed his latest find on YouTube because ‘Storage Wars’ production is on hiatus amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Nezhoda claims that the unit belonged to Bryant’s former stylist Derek Roche. However, a spokeswoman for Roche told the Daily Mail that her client had nothing to do with the unit. It remains unclear who owned the unit before it went to auction.
Speaking with the Daily Mail, Nezhoda said he has been in touch with Bryant family attorneys and is confident the items belonged to Kobe. Nezhoda went on to say he’s returning some of the items to Bryant’s widow Vanessa at her request.
The revelation of the storage unit came as Bryant’s friends, family, and fans have come together in recent days to honor his memory.
Bryant, who would have turned 42 on Sunday, died along with his 12-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash along the California coast in January. Furthermore, Monday marked an Orange County (California) holiday in Bryant’s honor, since the date, 8/24, happens to be the two jersey numbers he wore with the Lakers.
We’ll keep an eye on this story.
