CLEVELAND — A piece of Cleveland sports history is up for auction: LeBron James’ 2002 high school basketball jersey, which he sported on his first (of many) Sports Illustrated covers.
By the time James was a senior at Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary, he was already making national headlines as a highly anticipated high school prospect.
The jersey that introduced James to the sporting world on the cover of the February 18, 2002 Sports Illustrated is now up for auction at goldinauctions.com, with 5% of proceeds going to benefit The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, according to the auction listing.
View the listing on goldinauctions.com here.
By the time he was a senior at St. Vincent-St. Mary during the 2002-2003 high school season, he was averaging 30.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game, the listing states. He would be the number 1 draft pick in the 2003 NBA draft.
“The jersey shows good toning overall with some scuffing and perspiration stains as would be expected on the gamer of the NBA’s Number 1 draft pick,” the listing states.
The jersey, which was given directly by James to the consigner and his family, was worn by James for the majority of his junior season. It also comes with letters of authenticity, and a letter from the consigner, who attended James’ high school.
As of Monday afternoon, the current bid for the jersey was $34,000, but Ken Goldin told TMZSports that he expects it could sell for the mid-six figures - $300,000 to $500,000.
Bidding on the jersey runs until October 19.
