LeBron's Game 1 Finals Jersey Auctioned For Over $50K
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Most Miami Heat fans won't look back at Game 1 of the 2014 NBA Finals with much fondness. A power failure caused the air conditioning in the AT&T Center to stop functioning which led to sweltering heat inside the San Antonio Spurs home arena.
The harsh conditions caused Heat superstar LeBron James to suffer from cramps that kept him from the majority of the 4th quarter, allowing the Spurs to close out the win against a short-handed squad from Miami.
While James will likely want to forget the incident, there are some fans who still appreciate the historical significance of the strange opening to the NBA Finals.
Several collectors participated in an online auction for the Game 1 jerseys worn by Heat and Spurs players. The jersey worn by James drew the most attention, with the winning bidder spending $50,020 to take home the historical piece from NBA Auctions.
A total of 21 bids were made over a two and a half week span on LeBron's jersey, even though it was only worn during the first half of the series opening game.
There are still several jerseys and other items from the 2014 NBA Finals available on the auctions.nba.com website with everything certified by the NBA Authentication Program.
Over the past month, LeBron jerseys have accounted for three of the four most expensive items sold, with Tim Duncan's Game 1 jersey being the other.
The buyer that purchased James' jersey wasn't done there, also placing the winning bids for Heat jerseys worn by Dwyane Wade ($10,770), Chris Bosh ($5.770), Ray Allen ($5,770), Shane Battier ($2,820) and Chris Andersen ($1,851) as well as the Spurs jerseys worn by Tim Duncan ($20,770), Kawhi Leonard ($14,020) and Tony Parker ($11,020).
A separate buyer placed the winning bid for the Game 1 jersey worn by Manu Ginobili for $15,300.
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