Match-worn tops once belonging to the late football superstar Diego Maradona were among a trove of sports memorabilia sold at auction.
More than 500 items were on offer at Julien’s Auctions Sports: Legends event in Beverly Hills, with football, baseball, basketball, tennis and golf all represented.
Maradona’s signed top from a 1990 World Cup match against Brazil – in which the midfielder set up the winning goal – sold for £37,400 while the shirt he wore to score for Argentina for the first time fetched £21,000.
A top belonging to Maradona from a 1993 World Cup qualifying game against Australia, which he swapped with Australia’s former Southampton midfielder Robbie Slater, sold for £18,700.
And a 1984 short-sleeved Napoli jersey signed by Maradona, who died last year aged 60, went under the hammer for £9,300.
Elsewhere at the auction, the headline item was the sale of a high school basketball top once belonging to superstar LeBron James.
He wore the jersey for the 2002 Sports Illustrated cover which proclaimed him “The Chosen One”.
It sold for £375,000, which auctioneers said smashed the world record for the highest-selling high school top sold at auction – previously held by Barack Obama’s basketball jersey.
One of the most sought-after modern trading cards of Michael Jordan was also sold during the auction.
His 1986-1987 Fleer #57 rookie card was sold for £281,000, well over its estimate of £146,000.
A pair of Air Jordan 11 basketball shoes signed by Jordan – regarded by many as the greatest player of all time – fetched £42,000 while his game-worn top from the 1992 Olympics sold for £28,000.
Items once belonging to the late basketball star Kobe Bryant were also sold at the auction.
His Los Angeles Lakers home strip worn during his 1996-1997 rookie season went for £55,000 and the away version signed on the front and back sold for £70,000.
A match-worn top of Pele’s from the 1958 World Cup was sold for £40,000.
