Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has stayed away from controversy throughout his 22-year NBA career.
Considering how easily athletes in the NBA get into controversies, it’s truly commendable how well LeBron James has handled his life both on and off the court.
However, let’s not forget that the LA Lakers star is a human too. Even he can make a few mistakes here and there as that’s what happened when an 18-year-old James got a traffic ticket in 2003.
Being the face of the NBA, it’s a collector’s dream to own anything that James has signed during his career.
Even if it’s a traffic ticket from 2003. Yes, that’s what happened as a fan splurged $8,540 for the said ticket during an auction via Goldin.
“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,” the police ticket description said.
But what was the misconduct on James’ part? Well, it was described well on the Goldin site.
“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 vehicle in question was none other than James’ white Hummer H2, which was gifted to him by his mother, Gloria James.
At the time, James was 18 years old, but he was yet to get drafted into the NBA. But the future Hall of Famer was already a huge prospect.
Keeping that in mind, when James’ Hummer H2 went viral, the Ohio High School Athletic Association launched an investigation as it is against the rules for high school athletes to accept a gift over $100.
Evidently, the investigation led to a huge controversy even before James was drafted as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.
However, according to ESPN, the OHSAA cleared James of any misconduct as the committee reached the conclusion that Gloria secured a loan of $50,000 against her son’s future NBA earnings to gift him the vehicle.
