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President Obamas High School Basketball Jersey Goes for $120K

We all knew that former President Barack Obama had a thing for hoops, but did you know he actually played for a high school team that had taken state championships? His jersey for that team was recently for sale at an auction and went for a stunning $120,000.

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According to CNBC, sports collector Peter Noble had gone to the same high school — Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii — just three years behind Obama, and had also played on the school's basketball team. In true high school fashion, jerseys were reused rather than kept by players departing the team, and Noble was fortunate enough to land Obama's former duds.

The No. 23 jersey ended up being informally “retired” by Noble, who took it home with him, and he later kept it out of sentimentality and its connection to NBA superstars Michael Jordan and LeBron James. During his stint wearing the Punahou jersey, Obama and his squad took down state championships in Hawaii in 1979, an event his teammates remember very fondly.

Despite Barack Obama not confirming the provenance of the jersey himself, Noble had several pieces of backing evidence, and auction house Heritage Auctions did a little legwork themselves to prove the jersey's legacy. Chris Ivy of Heritage Auctions explained in great detail the history behind the high school jersey in question.

“Peter worked for the athletic department during summers, and the only reason he kept this particular jersey was because he wore No. 23 on the JV team,” Ivy said. “He kept it and then many decades later he saw a picture of President Obama, they put up a picture of him playing basketball at Punahou, and he noticed it was the same No. 23 that he had in his closet and put two [and] two together.”

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Billed as “the most important basketball jersey that exists” in the auction listing – a listing which started at the low-low price of $25,000, the item would eventually sell to a high bidder offering a presidential sum of $120,000. The bidder, who wished to remain anonymous, was able to procure a letter of provenance from Peter Noble as well as the 1979 Punahou school yearbook in order to prove the legitimacy of their purchase.

Former President Obama was not just famous for his time on the court, but also for his March Madness brackets and his attendance of college basketball games. Many popular internet memes fixated on the 44th president's love of hoops, and frequently associated him with “baller” culture. Regardless of whether or not Obama gave the nod to the auction, the artifact is now nestled safely in the hands of an unnamed historian, collector, and fan.

Noble plans to donate some of the profits from the auction to his alma mater, and still seems to take great pride in his achievements at the Hawaii high school.

“I was always honored to go and play at Punahou and now more so to play basketball with 23 because of what it has grown to represent.”

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Christina Majaski, Khareem Sudlow