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It’s been 22 years since Sports Illustrated dubbed LeBron James “The Chosen One” when he graced the cover of the hallowed magazine for the first time, and the jersey he rocked in the photo it used is on track to fetch a truly absurd amount of money at an upcoming auction.
It’s hard to keep track of the many, many up-and-coming basketball stars who’ve been positioned as generational talents with the potential to turn the game on its head—just like it’s hard to think of any who met and surpassed those expectations like LeBron James managed to.
At the turn of the millennium, there was a growing buzz about A Kid From Akron who seemed poised to join the likes of Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant as a member of the fairly select club of players who managed to make the leap to the NBA straight out of high school, and LeBron was ultimately able to do exactly that after being selected by the Cavaliers with the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.
I don’t have to sum up what’s transpired since then, as LeBron is still one of the best players in the league as he closes in on his 40th birthday and has more than lived up to the potential he showed when he was balling out as a high schooler at St. Vincent-St. Mary HS.
In February 2002, LeBron appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the first time (which marked the first of the close to 40 occasions he’s been featured on the front of the periodical) while rocking the green and gold jersey he wore as a member of his high school team.
In 2019, that piece of apparel became the most expensive high school basketball jersey ever sold when it was auctioned off for $187,500, and while it was unseated by one Barack Obama wore during his younger days in Hawaii the following year, it firmly reclaimed the top spot after fetching $512,200 in 2021.
Now, it’s hitting the block yet again for a sale organized by Julien’s that will unfold at the end of September, and the auction house estimates it will shatter that previous sum by selling for between $1 million and $2 million when everything is said and done (the bidding will start at a cool $250,000).
I’d like to preemptively congratulate someone with more money than they’ll ever know what to do with for placing the winning bid.