By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Sold in an auction for a third time over the last five years, a St. Vincent-St. Mary jersey worn by LeBron James reached a buying value of 1.3 million dollars from 512,000 dollars in 2021 and 184,000 dollars in 2019.
Julien’s Auctions, an auction house based in Beverly Hills, announced the latest sale to a private collector on Saturday.
The 1.3 million dollars set a new record for a high-school basketball jersey sold at auction.
The jersey, worn in the iconic Sports Illustrated ‘Chosen One’ cover in 2002 and from there in a game against the Archbishop Hoban Knights was previously sold at Julien’s in 2021 and at Goldin in 2019.
Sporting the jersey as a promising 17-year-old on February 3, 2002, following the photo shoot for the Sports Illustrated magazine, LeBron scored 32 points.
Moving directly to the NBA from a stellar career in high school, James was the first overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft, landed by his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.
Meeting and exceeding expectations set by the ‘Chosen One’ label, he went on to become a four-time NBA champion, in 2012 and 2013 with the Miami Heat, in 2016 with the Cavaliers, and in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers. On all four championship runs, he was also named Finals MVP.
Among more success throughout his professional career, he received an NBA All-Star nod for 20 straight years, starting in 2005, became the all-time leading scorer of the NBA surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabar in 2023, and captured gold with the United States in the 2008, 2012, and 2024 Olympic Games.
On the way to his 22nd NBA campaign and seventh with the Lakers, James will be teaming up with his son, Bronny, creating the first father-son pair in league history.