Lionel Messi meets the NBA

Sports Memorabilia for the win  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Sports Memorabilia is one of our youngest sales categories, but its growth is off the charts. Which makes total sense, because sports is a high-energy, high-passion pursuit with collectability at every turn.  It's a category that has so many different ways to appreciate its value and importance: moments of triumph, moments of defeat, examples of technical brilliance and mental fortitude that defined a year or even a generation. At Sotheby’s, we think of Modern Collectibles the way we think about everything else we offer – we represent the pinnacle of the market. So last month, we didn’t just sell any football jersey. We sold [the jersey]( worn by the winningest quarterback in history, Tom Brady, during the final game of his legendary NFL career.  And now we’re not just selling any random group of NBA uniforms. We’re the league’s official game-worn source, which means jerseys from all the league’s top players come straight off the court and into our hands for auction. We’re off to a great start. The (very long) jersey from 7’4” rookie Victor Wembanyama’s first game with the San Antonio Spurs [sold for $762,000]( in our debut [NBA Auction](, with further excitement seen for LeBron James and Damian Lilliard's first jerseys of this season. And next year we’ll have eight more auctions featuring memorabilia from marquee events, such as Kia NBA Tip-Off, NBA Christmas Day, NBA All-Star, the NBA Finals and much more. The hype reel below nicely captures the excitement around our NBA Auctions project. Please take 30 seconds and check it out. There’s something exhilarating about seeing all those shirts lined up on the wall. Argentina’s Finest Before we turn the calendar to 2024, there’s one more blockbuster sports sale left this year: a [set of six Argentina]( jerseys worn by Lionel Messi during his history-making 2022 march to the FIFA World Cup championship. Here we have the greatest player of all time triumphing on his sport’s grandest stage – the best of the best, at his best. That makes these jerseys very special indeed. The online sale closes on the 14th December. Judging from our sale of Diego Maradona’s jersey – from the famous “Hand of God” match – which sold last year for [$9.3 million](, we should have quite a bidding battle on our hands. See For Yourself If you’re in New York over the next week, please drop by our galleries. The first thing you’ll see in the lobby is our stunning display of the Messi jerseys, stacked two by two, each labeled with the flag of the opponent. Mexico. Croatia. My home country, Australia. The Netherlands. They’re all there, culminating in the most important shirt of all – the one Messi wore in the instant-classic World Cup final, a victory against France decided in an agonizing penalty-kick shootout. The Checkered Flag Sports are often dominated by a player that takes it to the next level, and our foothold in automotive and specifically the Formula 1 world is unrivaled. The following video [about Lewis Hamilton’s 2013 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 W04]( – which sold last month in Las Vegas for $18.8 million – captures the scale of our ambition to sell the most consequential sports memorabilia, whether it appeared on turf, tarmac or timber. There’s more to come in the F1 space next year – but if you have the need for speed, don’t miss our current sale of Lewis Hamilton’s first career [Grand Prix Victory Race Worn Suit](, from 2007, which closes for bidding on the 19th December.  Auctions, in a funny way, are a sport of their own. They get the adrenaline pumping, everyone’s competing for the same prize, and there can only be one winner. But sometimes it’s just fun to play. We hope to see you in the game. Until next time, Josh Pullan Executive Vice President Head of Global Luxury Division @josh_pullan_ [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Weibo]( [WeChat]( This email was sent to you by [Sotheby's]( [Manage preferences]( to [unsubscribe]( Download the Sotheby's app for [iOS]( and [Android]( Sotheby's [Auctions]( ...[Buy Now]( ...[Sell]( 1334 York Ave. New York, NY, 10021 Sotheby’s, Inc. License No. 1216058. © 2023