Kobe Bryant Wants A Restraining Order Against Sports Memorabilia Company

Don’t be fooled! A sports memorabilia company called Art of the Game is selling items with FAKE signatures from Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant.

Now the NBA player is asking a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order against the company, while Panini America, the company that has an ACTUAL merchandising deal with Bryant is pursuing a lawsuit for using Kobe’s likeness.

In a sworn declaration, Bryant said:

“I believe that there is a strong likelihood of confusion if Art of the Game is allowed to continue to marketing and selling memorabilia with the Attributes and bearing my purported signature without a proper signature of authenticity.”

A.k.a…If he’s not making money, they can’t be making money! LOLz!

Art of the Game is sticking by their story that these items are the real deal, as the companies attorney said in a statement:

“Art of the Game’s owners have impeccable reputations in the sports memorabilia world and have represented scores of athletes including Muhammad Ali, Sandy Koufax and Joe Namath. The allegations made by Panini are false and the signatures on the memorabilia are Kobe’s.”

Is it possible Kobe signed a few too many pictures and just doesn’t remember or is it illegal to sell an autograph on eBay these days?

[Image via WENN.]