Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction September 2024
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/24/2024
A sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer, by the time LeBron James was thirty years old he had already been a household name for half of his life. Entering public consciousness as the most heralded high school phenom the game of basketball had ever seen, legendary former UCLA coach John Wooden said of LeBron that “He’s as dominant a player I’ve seen since Oscar Robertson”. Selected first overall by his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the 2003 NBA Draft, LeBron has gone on to a career spanning 20 seasons and counting and has won four championships along with countless awards including 4 NBA Finals MVP’s, 4 NBA MVP’s, 2 Olympic gold medals with Team USA, Rookie of the Year in 2004 and 18 straight NBA All-Star selections as of this writing. He’s that good.
The first player in the history of the Cavaliers to win the NBA's Rookie of the Year Award and finishing with final averages of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game, he also became the third player in league history to average at least 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists per game as a rookie. Offered here, we present this Cleveland Cavaliers jersey issued to LeBron James during his rookie season of 2003-04. A red wine coloured pullover garment made by Reebok of a mesh construction with dazzle cloth material side panels, the front of the jersey is decorated with "Cleveland" in dual layer gold-over-white tackle twill letters that have been individually sewn on while the NBA logo has been embroidered into the left shoulder. Also having had a Cleveland "C" alternate logo patch added to the bottom of the collar and featuring gold and navy blue knit accents around the collar and arm openings, the front and verso of the jersey have been styled with James' iconic number "23" in matching style gold-over-white tackle twill numerals while "James" is spelt out in individually applied matching style gold-over-white tackle twill letters across the top of the back in a gentle arch below a sewn on Cavaliers alternate logo crest. Tagged over the lower front left side as an "Official NBA Authentic Reebok Team Apparel" example, the jock tag displays both Reebok and Cleveland Cavaliers logos while additional tags reading "2003-2004" (year) and "50 2LB" (size and player specific tailoring) are found over the bottom and right side side. Additionally, a UFCW tag and washing instructions label are found affixed inside the left side seam and the jersey matches the specific dimensions of elements seen on another example that has come to market, which was accompanied by a MEARS LOA, that lists various dimensions for things such as the font size of the players name on the reverse (2 15/16"), front number font size (5"), reverse number font size (7 15/16"), chest size (25"), and length (35 1/2"). Displaying just light wear via a few loose threads and evidence of laundering to the extent that you would expect of a jersey that may have been worn for one (1) or two (2) games at most, in conclusion, and quoting the conclusion found at the bottom of the LOA from Sports Investors Authentication, "the jersey in review is properly tagged, lettered and numbered. It is consistent with known exemplars, it exhibits little use and appears to have no alternations of any kind. Therefore, it is the considered opinion of Sports Investors Authentication that this uniform is genuine, was issued to LeBron James, and may have been worn for one or two games during his 2003-2004 NBA rookie season".
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