Mamba Mentality Goes Digital! Rare Early Photos of Kobe to be Released as NFTs, with All Proceeds Going to the Mamba Foundation.

August 24th is a day of remembrance for the late NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, also known as Black Mamba Day, as the numbers 8 and 24 were the jersey numbers Kobe Bryant wore during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers. To commemorate this day, the NFT auction platform Cryptograph announced yesterday (24) that they will be auctioning off early career photos of Kobe Bryant.

Classic Photos of Black Mamba Auctioned

A total of 8 black-and-white photos of Kobe Bryant were auctioned on the Cryptograph platform for fans who admire Kobe Bryant to bid and collect. This series of photos was taken by photographer Davis Factor in 1999. In the promotional video on Cryptograph, he mentioned:

"The original shoot took place in a meatpacking plant in downtown Los Angeles. Since the building had no power supply, he even had to bring his own generator to power the lights."

Currently, there have been buyers bidding on the platform continuously, with 4 photos reaching a bid of 3.5 ETH (approximately $11,000). The auction will close in 2 days (27). According to Cryptograph, the proceeds from this auction will all be donated to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation.

This foundation was established by Kobe Bryant's widow, Vanessa Bryant, with the aim of helping young female athletes and underserved communities. In addition, a portion of the proceeds from any secondary market sales of Kobe Bryant NFTs in the future will also be donated to this foundation.

Preserving Immortality Through NFTs

According to Decrypt's report, Tommy Alastra, the founder of Cryptograph, stated:

"The power of NFTs and the potential to create long-term income for artists, organizations, and companies, combined with Cryptograph's business model, aligns with the principles of impactful investing. The day of the Black Mamba is a perfect time to make a change and pass on Kobe Bryant's legacy in the form of NFTs."

Cryptograph is not the only platform in the NFT market that uses classic photos to create NFT collectibles. In April of this year, photographer Jesse Frohman also sold photos of the late lead singer of the iconic rock band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain. In the future, as more people realize the potential of NFTs to preserve and create income from classic photos or scenes in the long term, there will undoubtedly be more people investing in them.