LeBron James' high school jersey from the famous Sports Illustrated cover is being auctioned

The St. Vincent-St. Mary High School jersey that LeBron James wore in his famous “The Chosen One” photo shoot for his Sports Illustrated cover in 2002 will be auctioned in Hong Kong in September. According to The Athletic, it is expected to fetch between $1 million and $2 million, which would make it the most expensive high school jersey of all time.

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

Michael LeBrecht, the photographer on the Sports Illustrated shoot, spoke with Julien's, the auction house hosting the upcoming event, scheduled for September 28th.

“Usually when you come back to something you photographed, you say, 'What's up, how's it going? It's been a while.' This doesn't answer. But it's so iconic,” LeBrecht told Julien's. “The last time I saw that jersey was probably when I photographed it in the St. Vincent-St. Mary's locker room.”

“That was the first time I ever photographed LeBron. It was just a simple scene. I had him dunk at least 40 times. I had him pray that he would make it to the NBA, and then I was like, 'OK, let's get a little more animated.' He poses, I say, 'Just stretch it out like that,' and then I say, 'Give me a woo!' And he goes, 'Woo!'

“You look back and don't realise that was a real turning point. It's surreal. What sucks is that I didn't ask if I could take the jersey home after the shoot.”

The current Lakers star scored 32 points on the night of the shootout 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 by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Over the past two decades, he has exceeded the sky-high expectations created by the Sports Illustrated cover story and remains one of the game's best players. James, 39, just won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and is entering his 22nd NBA season.