US News

Bryant scores in court

NBA superstar Kobe Bryant has gotten a judge’s order that temporarily blocks a New Jersey auctioneer from selling memorabilia held by his mother.

US District Judge Andrew Guilford on Wednesday issued an order in federal court in Santa Ana, Calif., that blocks Goldin Auctions LLC from selling or transferring property, including “basketball jerseys, championship rings and other sports memorabilia” that Bryant says belongs to him. Goldin Auctions said in court papers it expects to sell the items for more than $1 million and has advanced Pamela Bryant $450,000. “I never told my mother that she could have my personal property, let alone consign it for sale by public auction,” Bryant, 34, said in court papers filed May 8 in Santa Ana.

The dispute, playing out in federal courts in California and New Jersey, centers on whether the Los Angeles Laker star can halt attempts by his mother to sell such items as his high-school uniform and varsity letters and his ring from the 2000 NBA championship.