Federal authorities are investigating what’s been described as the “largest memorabilia heist” in sports history after millions of dollars’ worth of Miami Heat memorabilia, including game-worn Finals jerseys, was stolen from inside the Kaseya Center.
NBA analyst Amin Elhassan reported that several millions of dollars’ worth of authenticated, game-worn Miami Heat gear, including NBA Finals jerseys, was stolen from a storage room inside the Kaseya Center and sold.
“This person was taking them and selling them,” said Elhassan.
Elhassan shared the report on The Dan LeBatard Show, saying the operation went on for at least 18 months, stealing the authentic gear and selling it for millions in profits.
“One of the largest, if not the largest, memorabilia heists in the history of this country,” said Elhassan. “The sale of ill-gotten memorabilia.”
A federal investigation into the theft has begun looking into how someone did this.
“What red-flagged it within the memorabilia community is, you never see people with this much stuff,” said Elhassan.
Travis Nichols runs The Collector’s Club in Wynwood and told 7News just one game-worn NBA Finals jersey could sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“It was crazy, obviously. It’s a huge, huge thing to break, but at this point, I’m shocked it took this long for something that big to happen,” said Nichols. “Memorabilia is moved into the asset class by a lot of financial institutions. It’s about time people start realizing that this stuff has money to it.”
Elhassan suggested that the person inside the Heat organization had access to the franchise’s storage and may have gotten help from someone with ties to the NBA and a Miami Police officer.
7News reached out to Miami Police Chief Manny Morales, who provided a statement saying the department has no comment on the ongoing investigation.
“That is an FBI investigation. At this time, we are unable to comment.”
The Heat organization also said they could not provide a comment at this time.
Some of the items reportedly stolen were tied to the biggest names in the franchise’s history, including LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and others.
“Any day now, the feds are going to announce, like, this thing is happening,” said Elhassan.
It’s unclear what exact legal ramifications could occur as a result from the investigation at this time.