Report: Kobe Bryant family feud had been simmering

LOS ANGELES, May 4 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is trying to stop his mother from selling memorabilia but her lawyer says Bryant told her "he had no interest" in the items.

Goldin Auctions of New Jersey has given Pamela Bryant $450,000 for memorabilia from her son's playing days at Lower Merion High in Pennsylvania and in his early years with the Lakers, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

An attorney for Kobe Bryant, Mark Campbell, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the auction house asserting the items are Kobe Bryant's personal property.

Lawyers for Pamela Bryant said in court documents Kobe Bryant "indicated to Pamela Bryant that the items belonged to her and that he had no interest in them." The lawyers said Pamela Bryant spends $1,500 on storage for about 900 items the auction house estimated are worth more than $1.5 million.

The items include NBA championship rings, a basketball signed by the 2000 NBA champion Lakers team, Kobe Bryant's 1996 Pennsylvania high school championship ring and sweat suits he wore in high school.

Citing sources, TMZ.com reported Saturday Pamela Bryant was miffed at the relatively modest home her son offered to buy for his parents in Las Vegas. The property was valued at less than $1 million, the sources said, while a Southern California home Kobe Bryant bought for the mother of his wife, Vanessa, sold recently for $3.2 million, the sources told TMZ.