A jersey worn by the late Kobe Bryant when the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA Championship in 2009 has sold for a record $337,334 at auction ©Grey Flannel Auctions

A jersey worn by the late Kobe Bryant in the finals of the 2009 National Basketball Association (NBA) when he lifted his fourth Championship with the Los Angeles Lakers has sold for a record $337,334 (£246,129/€277,927) at an online auction.

The Lakers won the Championship series with a 4-1 victory over Orlando Magic as Bryant won the first of two finals MVP - Most Valuable Player - awards after averaging 32.4 points, 7.4 assists and 5.6 rebounds.

Bryant wore this in game three of the NBA finals on June 9, the only match in the series that the Lakers lost.

They were beaten 108-104 by the Magic at the Amway Arena in Orlando, despite Bryant scoring 31 points, adding eight assists and three rebounds.

The jersey, sold by the Scottsdale-based Grey Flannel Auctions, was the most paid for a jersey worn by Bryant.

"This is the most historically significant Kobe uniform to hit the market since his unfortunate passing," Michael Russek, Grey Flannel Auctions’ director of operations, said. 

It had a minimum price of $10,000 (£7,250/€8,250) but such is the interest in memorabilia associated to the double Olympic gold medallist since his death at the age of 41 in a helicopter crash on January 26 last year that the price soared as a total of 29 bidders battled for the jersey.

Bryant’s was not the only game-worn jersey to exceed expectations as one used by Michael Jordan during the Chicago Bulls Championship-winning season in 1998 sold for $230,401 (£168,107/€189,826).

Jordan wore the jersey in the Bulls 105-97 victory over the Indiana Pacers in February 1998.

The jersey worn by Michael Jordan in the Chicago Bulls victory over Indiana Pacers in February 1998 sold at the same auction for $230,401 ©Getty Images
The jersey worn by Michael Jordan in the Chicago Bulls victory over Indiana Pacers in February 1998 sold at the same auction for $230,401 ©Getty Images

Jordan led the way for the Bulls scoring 27 points and adding six assists and four rebounds.

A pair of Nike trainers worn by Bryant during the Bulls 1996 Championship season also attracted a high price, selling for $95,240 (£69,490/€78,467).

The two-time Olympic gold medallist signed the inside ankle of the right shoe in gold marker.

It was not just basketball which attracted high prices with a jersey worn by ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky also attracting interest.

The Los Angeles King game-worn jersey from the 1992-1993 National Hockey League (NHL) season sold for $65,048 (£47,439/€53,606) – more than 11 times the minimum bid of $5,000 (£3,500/€4,000).

“The Great One”, as Gretzky is nicknamed, is the leading point-scorer in NHL history, with more assists than any other player has points, and is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season - a feat he accomplished four times.

In addition, he tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive.

Following his retirement, Gretzky was executive director of the Canadian team that won the Olympic gold medal at Salt Lake City 2002.