Kobe Bryant’s stolen high school jersey returned

The jersey that Kobe Bryant wore at his high school, Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia, was reported stolen back in 2017. Since the passing of Bryant, the jersey has been returned back to Bryant’s alma mater.

The jersey bears the number 33, which was the number that Bryant wore in high school. The jersey was stolen sometime in 2017 and then apparently sold off. The jersey recently reappeared in China when it was bought by a collector who did not know it was stolen. Shortly after coming into possession of the jersey, he suspected it was stolen, and he contacted the school. The process of returning the jersey was set into motion before Bryant’s passing.

However, the jersey made it home after his passing but made for a more memorable event anyway.

The jersey was unveiled in a ceremony that was held Saturday at Lower Merion High School in the gym named after Bryant: Bryant Gymnasium. Those included in attendance at the service were Bryant’s cousin, a former high school teammate, and Bryant’s high school coach. The gym was packed to at least capacity for the event, many of the current students of Bryant’s former school, wearing shirts that said, “The Heartbeat of Aces Nation.”