There are a lot of takeaways here, but the best has to be this:
LeBron James got a traffic ticket in 2003, and someone kept it for two decades.
That ticket just sold via auction for $8,540.
Here's the full description of the ticket by the Goldin auction group:
Even if your nickname is "King James," you’re still bound by the laws of the land, as evidenced by this police ticket issued to an 18-year-old LeBron James on March 1, 2003, by the Akron Police Department. This ticket was issued during one of the most controversial periods of James’ career, as it was issued to James while driving the Hummer H2 that caused a swirl of controversy. James was gifted the Hummer by his mother, who secured a loan against his future NBA earning power, which prompted the Ohio High School Athletic Association to launch an investigation. James was later cleared of any misconduct, as the vehicle was deemed a gift from a family member. The ticket, which could possibly be the first ticket issued to the future Hall of Famer, was issued to James due to the vehicle having no rear license plate, as the temporary tag was laying on the front of the dashboard, as a bracket was available on the rear plate but was never attached, and was signed by James on the top right corner in black ink. The ticket, in triplicate, features police notations and a purple stamp labeled “FILED MARCH 7 8:46 AM ’03 AKRON MUNICIPAL COURT JIM LARIA CLERK.” Faint stains and light edge and corner wear can be found on the ticket, none of which detract from James’ signature or the significance of this ticket, issued to James for driving the very car that embroiled the young star in controversy. The ticket is accompanied by an LOA from JSA for James’ signature.
The ticket looks like it was filed about two weeks before James' final high school game for St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio.
He closed out his high school career with a 40-36 win over Kettering Archbishop Alter in the Ohio D-II state championship game. Despite the lack of a shot clock slowing things down considerably, LeBron totaled 25 points (10-21 FG) and 11 rebounds in his final high school game.
And now, as one of the couple greatest basketball players ever, even a traffic ticket from back in the day brought someone to spend nearly $10K.
It's tough to know exactly how much that ticket would've cost back then, but even today, failure to display a rear license plate in Ohio is less than $200 of a fine.
So it's likely someone paid 50x or more the value of the ticket to acquire it now.
That's the price to have a small connection to The King.
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