The St. Vincent-St. Mary Excessive Faculty jersey that LeBron James wore in his well-known “The Chosen One” photoshoot for his Sports activities Illustrated cowl again in 2002 goes up for public sale in Hong Kong in September. It’s anticipated to fetch between $1 million and $2 million, per The Athletic, which might make it the most costly highschool jersey ever.
In earlier auctions, the jersey bought for $187,500 in 2019 and $512,200 in 2021.
Michael LeBrecht, the photographer for that Sports activities Illustrated shoot, spoke to Julien’s, the public sale home operating the upcoming occasion, which is ready for Sept. 28.
“You come again to one thing you photographed, normally you say ‘what’s up, the way you doing? It has been a minute.’ This does not speak again. Nevertheless it’s so iconic,” LeBrecht informed Julien’s. “The final time I noticed this jersey was in all probability the time that I shot it within the locker room at St. Vincent-St. Mary.
“This was the primary time I shot LeBron. Simply type of a easy arrange. I had him dunk the ball at the least 40 instances. Received him praying to make the NBA, after which I simply felt like, ‘OK, let’s get just a little bit extra animated.’ He is posing, I am like ‘simply attain out like this,’ after which I am like, ‘give me a woo!’ And he is like, ‘woo!’
“You look again and you do not understand, it was an actual turning level. It is surreal. What’s f—ed up is I did not ask to take the jersey residence after the shoot.”
The now-Lakers star scored 32 factors the evening of the shoot, and wore that jersey for almost all of his junior season. The subsequent 12 months, he declared for the 2003 NBA Draft and was chosen No. 1 total by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Over the previous 20 years, he has exceeded the sky-high expectations that began in earnest with that Sports activities Illustrated cowl story, and stays the most effective gamers within the sport. James, 39, simply received a gold medal with Workforce USA within the 2024 Paris Olympics and is coming into his twenty second NBA season.
