"I thought about doing this t-shirt a few days ago," said Djokovic. "I didn't share it with anybody. Kobe was a close friend of mine, we chatted a lot, about the winner's mentality."

The price was comfortably more than the previous high of $3.7 million paid for a jersey worn by the Los Angeles Lakers titan, who won five NBA titles and two Olympic gold medals.

Basketball legend Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash along with his teenage daughter sparked an outpouring of grief across the worlds of sports and entertainment yesterday.