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Being an NBA ball boy in the 1990s apparently came with one incredible perk and one previously undisclosed risk: the sneakers superstars handed you might still be causing legal problems 30 years later. Former Utah Jazz ball boy Preston Truman is suing over a pair of Kobe Bryant rookie-season playoff shoes that he says should have produced a six-figure windfall but instead turned into another memorabilia courtroom fight.
Heritage Auctions expected the signed sneakers Bryant wore during his infamous four-airball Game 5 against Utah in the 1997 playoffs to bring at least $300,000. They eventually sold for just $99,000 after an ownership dispute interrupted the auction, and Truman now alleges that disruption cost him at least $200,000, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
The Kobe Shoes Auction Got Stopped At The Worst Possible Time
The shoes already had everything collectors generally want.
They came from Kobe Bryant’s rookie season, were signed by him, and were tied to one of the defining early moments of his career. The 18-year-old famously shot four airballs late in an elimination loss to Utah before eventually turning the failure into part of his legend.
The Heritage listing confirms Truman received the Adidas shoes directly from Bryant while working for the Jazz and ultimately watched them sell for $99,000 in August 2023.
Truman says that number should have been much higher.
His lawsuit alleges Jason Silverstein previously purchased a 30% fractional interest in the sneakers before Truman bought that stake back for $30,000 in March 2023. Days before the Heritage auction was scheduled to close, however, the auction house received a letter claiming somebody else still owned an interest in the shoes.
Heritage paused the sale while Truman assembled paperwork demonstrating ownership.
By the time everything resumed, Truman alleges the damage was done.
More than 400 people had reportedly been watching the auction, but only three bidders ultimately participated. After commission, Truman says he received just $82,500.
That is a fairly painful result when the original expectation started with a three.
This Is Somehow Truman’s Second Giant Sneaker Lawsuit
The Kobe dispute would already be weird enough on its own.
Then Michael Jordan enters the story.
Truman also received Jordan’s signed Air Jordan XIII “Bred” sneakers after Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals while working in Utah. He eventually sold those shoes for $215,000 in 2020 and later sued parties involved in that transaction, alleging he had been pressured into accepting an unfair price.
Those exact shoes were subsequently sold through Sotheby’s for $2.238 million in 2023.
A Utah judge ruled against Truman in that case and ordered him to pay legal fees, a decision he has appealed. GWC Holdings, Silverstein’s company, is also involved in separate litigation connected to ownership of the Jordan shoes.
Now Truman alleges that an existing legal fight provided part of the motivation for the ownership challenge involving his Kobe sneakers.
Silverstein and GWC have not been found liable for Truman’s newest allegations, and the case remains pending.