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By Cameron Kiszla
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It's only been a few days and the LeBron James Philadelphia 76ers jersey is setting the sports world on fire, with Fanatics announcing it's "the best-selling jersey ever for any player in the first 48 hours after their announcement," according to Adam Wells of Bleacher Report.
Considering it's the uber-popular Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani that King James overtook, that's no small feat.
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But even before those jerseys went on sale, one man from the Philadelphia area got his hands on one.
How? He sunburned it into his skin.
'Philly Toughness'
As reported by Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Joey Abel is a diehard Sixers fan who lives in New York and thus has suffered given the New York Knicks recent championship.
He was on the way to the beach with his family when he learned of the James signing, and he wanted to let the world know how excited he was "in a way only a Philadelphian could: by suffering just a little bit more," Coffey wrote.
He grabbed his nephews' blue zinc sunscreen stick and had his sister write "James" and "23" on his back in the style of a jersey.
He then declined to use sunscreen anywhere else.
“I don’t even know [how I thought of it],” Abel told Coffey. “I was just like, ‘How can I get a LeBron James jersey as fast as possible?’ And for some reason, that’s where my mind went.”
It didn't take long, as shown in the pictures Abel provided to the outlet.
"About an hour later, his family rubbed the sunscreen off to find a semi-permanent LeBron James jersey seared into his back," Coffey wrote.
For the record, Coffey indicated the weather that day was slightly cloudy and in the high 70s, which is "perfect for a roast," but you should be wearing sunscreen even if it's cloudy.
Various internet users have since shared pictures of the infamous sunburn, and despite his family's embarrassment and his own pain, Abel is proud of the gesture.
“It does hurt, but I did it, right?” he said. “I’m going to have to keep it. I don’t really want it to fade as fast. Philly toughness, like LeBron’s going to learn.”
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