By Jerry Wein
The Punahou School jersey of the 44th President of the United States sold for a whopping $192,000 at auction on Friday. According to seller Julien’s Auctions, that sum represents the record for a high school jersey sold at auction.
SOLD for $192,000 The high school basketball jersey worn by Barack Obama, who later became the 44th president of the United States. A new World Record for a high school jersey sold at auction!
Sold today in Day 4 of our “Icons & Idols: Trilogy” auction – Icons & Idols: Sports! pic.twitter.com/MzlwkjVC3T
— Juliens Auctions (@JuliensAuctions) December 4, 2020
The sale appears to break a record previously set by LeBron James, whose St. Vincent-St. Mary’s uniform, the one featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, sold for $187,500 last year.
The former president’s love of basketball has been well-known for years, from shooting hoops on the campaign trail to discussing Jordan in ESPN’s “The Last Dance.”
As a player in high school, Obama didn’t start, but he had his proponents on the court. From NBC News:
Mark Bendix said his old pal should have been a starter at Punahou — and insisted he was not just being loyal to an old friend.
“I loved his game,” he said. “He had a pretty good shot and really handled the ball well.”
Obama’s high school stats appear to be lost to history, but photographs still remain:
.@BarackObama‘s 1977 yearbook photo of his Honolulu JV basketball team. pic.twitter.com/YdkCyswjxK
— ThePostGame (@ThePostGame) January 11, 2017
Obama’s jersey was one of multiple record-setters at auction on Friday, joined by the jersey from Colin Kaepernick’s NFL debut, (an NFL-record $128,000), and the jersey from Jordan’s Bulls signing ceremony as a rookie (a Jordan-record $320,000).
