Iconic LeBron James jersey to be auctioned

The high school basketball top worn by LeBron James in a now legendary photo shoot for Sports Illustrated is expected to fetch over $1m when it goes under the hammer in September.

The sale, which comes shortly after an iconic Babe Ruth jersey was bought at auction for a record-breaking $24m (£18m), is the marquee item at a blockbuster line-up of memorabilia that also features items from Kobe Bryant and Micael Jackson.

James sported the jersey, widely viewed as one of the player’s most highly sought after items, at the shoot where the august sports magazine anointed him “The Chosen One” off the back of a jaw-dropping season at his Ohio high school side.

He almost single-handedly led his team, known as The Fighting Irish, to the state championships, becoming the first ever second-year student to be selected to the All-USA First Team.

The auction will be the second time in three years that well-heeled basketball fans will have had the chance to get their hands on the top.

It was sold by Julien’s Auctions – which is also overseeing September’s auction – for over $500,000 (£378,932) in 2021, but is expected to fetch over double that at this time round, reflecting the burgeoning market for historic sports and entertainment items.

On top of Ruth’s record-breaking jersey, the “Hand of God” shirt worn by Argentina legend Maradona during a game against England at the World Cup went under the gavel for $9.3m (£7.1m).

The sale was – at the time – the highest price ever paid for a piece of sports memorabilia at the before the sale of Ruth’s dwarfed it two years later.

Other big money items to have fetched huge prices are the Olympic Games Manifesto, which went for $8.8m in 2019, and the belt worn by Muhammad Ali during his “Rumble in the Jungle” bout against George Foreman.