Basketball jersey Obama wore 41 years ago in school sells for ₹1.4 crore

New York: The most expensive high school basketball jersey ever sold at auction doesn’t belong to Michael Jordan. Or LeBron James.

Kobe Bryant? Larry Bird? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? None of the above.A basketball jersey worn by former US President Barack Obama in 1979 during his senior year at Punahou School in Hawaii sold for $192,000 (₹1.4 crore) at auction, Julien’s Auctions said. It added that it is the highest amount ever for a high-school jersey sold at auction.

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 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).