Oh, how we wish it was true. This eBay auction purports to be selling a pair of green adidas Pro Model 2Gs that LeBron James wore at SVSM as a junior. The size, 15, sounds right — LeBron wears a 16 now. And the green is right. Plus, LeBron wore plenty of adi in high school, including Pro Models. Disregard the fact that it looks like he may have worn these playing football instead, and this could be the find of the century. And for less than two grand!
However.
Checking photos of LeBron playing in 2Gs, one can't help but notice that his stripes were gold (fourth photo above). Digging further, you can find shots of LeBron's actual high school PEs (fifth photo above), with gold stripes and "L 23 J" embroidery. Given that this was a guy who had already appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, it makes sense that he wouldn't be settling for your average Eastbay team shoe (which kind of brings into question the whole "MADE ONLY FOR LEBRON" thing). Guess what we're trying to say is use your own discretion. And do the research before you bid.
UPDATE: Received an e-mail from someone who was with adidas basketball at the time who actually confirmed that all the details are correct for these to be a LeBron-worn pair:
"That was his favorite adidas shoe.
"I know for a fact he was a 15 when he was with us…I know we did that monogram for him and that shoe both with white and gold stripes. I think the gold ones were for senior year and the white was junior or soph. Obviously we can’t confirm they were his but everything seems right from what I saw."
