RUNNEMEDE, N.J. — The historic high school basketball jersey LeBron James donned on the cover of the February 18, 2002 issue of Sports Illustrated that introduced the high school basketball phenom to the world, will be up for bids in the Goldin Auctions 2019 October Legends Auction through October 19 at GoldinAuctions.com.
The St. Vincent-St. Mary Gold Fighting Irish jersey was worn by James for his photo shoot with Sports Illustrated on February 3, 2002 and then later that night in a dominant 74 – 49 victory against the Archbishop Hoban Knights in which he posted 32 points and 7 rebounds.
It was a typical performance for the junior who was averaging 30.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists.
The gold mesh jersey has “IRISH” arched above LeBron’s number “23” in green and white. An XXL Onsports label is sewn in the lower left front tail and his number “23” is repeated on the back. The jersey shows good toning overall with some scuffing and perspiration stains as would be expected on the gamer.
Comes with LOAs from The MeiGray Group and Resolution Photomatching for the game use and photo match. Additionally, the jersey, worn by LeBron for most of his junior season, was given by LeBron to our consignor and his family. A detailed letter from our consignor who attended St. Vincent-St. Mary’s accompanies the jersey.
“Few players transcend their sport and few collectibles transcend the industry,” said Ken Goldin Founder of Goldin Auctions. “When you combine those two elements into one item records are broken and that is what we fully expect with this historic high school jersey of the world’s most recognizable athlete of this generation.”
Sports memorabilia impresario Ken Goldin has sold more than $700 million in memorabilia from many of the biggest names in sports, history and pop culture and was the pioneer of using the medium of television to sell sports memorabilia.
Over the past few years, Goldin Auctions sold a Honus Wagner T206 card for a public sale record $3.12 million, Babe Ruth’s 1918 contract for a record $1.02 million, the Mike Piazza Post-9/11 home run jersey for $365,000, and the 1979-80 Wayne Gretzky PSA GEM MT 10 rookie card for a record $465,000. Goldin Auctions strives to break new ground and offer collectors the best in collectible treasures up for auction in the marketplace. Goldin Auctions is the official auction partner of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the Jackie Robinson Foundation and the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum.
For more information, visit goldinauctions.com.
