LeBron James’ high school jersey from famous Sports Illustrated cover up for auction

The St. Vincent-St. Mary High School jersey that LeBron James wore in his famous “The Chosen One” photoshoot for his Sports Illustrated cover in 2002 will be put up for auction in Hong Kong in September. According to The Athletic, it’s expected to fetch between $1 and $2 million, making it the most expensive high school jersey ever sold.

In previous auctions, the jersey sold for $187,500 in 2019 and $512,200 in 2021.

Michael Lebrecht, the photographer behind the Sports Illustrated shoot, spoke with Julien’s, the auction house handling the upcoming event, which is set for Sept. 28.

“When you come back to something you’ve photographed, you usually say ‘What’s going on, how are you? It’s been a minute.’ It doesn’t respond. But it’s very iconic,” Lebrecht told Julien. “The last time I saw this jersey was probably when I shot it in the locker room at St. Vincent-St. Mary’s.

“That was the first time I shot LeBron. It was a simple setup. I told him to dunk the ball at least 40 times. Told him to pray to make it to the NBA, and then I was like, ‘OK, let’s get a little more animated.’ He was posing, I was saying ‘Just extend your hand like this’ and then I was saying, ‘Give me a woo!’ And he was saying, ‘Woo!’

“You look back and you don’t realise that was a really turning point. It’s surreal. The mess is I didn’t ask to take the jersey home after the shoot.”

The now Lakers star scored 32 points on shootout night and wore that jersey for most of his junior season. The following year, he declared for the 2003 NBA Draft and was selected No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Over the past two decades, he has surpassed the skyrocketing expectations that began with a Sports Illustrated cover story and has remained one of the game’s best players. James, 39, won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics and is entering his 22nd NBA season.