11 May 2013

Kobe Bryant sues mother

6:00 pm on 11 May 2013

NBA superstar Kobe Bryant's legal battle with his mother over a memorabilia auction won't be settled in time for Mother's Day after a Californian judge put the sale on hold.

Bryant and his mother Pamela are locked in a coast-to-coast legal wrangle over her deal with a New Jersey-based auction house to sell hundreds of items of memorabilia from his high school playing days in Pennsylvania and his early professional career.

In court papers, Bryant has contradicted his mother's claim that he told her he didn't want the items and that she could dispose of them as she pleased.

Goldin's auction house appraised the items at $US1.5 million ($NZ1.8 million) and gave Pamela Bryant a $US450,000 ($NZ542,000) advance.

The sale is advertised on Goldin's website and, when Bryant's lawyers wrote to the firm asking them to stop the sale, they responded by taking the case to court in New Jersey.

Bryant went to court in California, where District Court judge Andrew Guilford issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the auction house not to act before a hearing set for Monday on which court has jurisdiction.

Bryant says the items hold tremendous sentimental value for him and he hopes to hand them down to his children.