Aug. 12 Basketball HOF Auction features Dr. J's ABA All-Star jersey, Dave Cowens' MVP Award Grey Flannel’s Aug. 12 Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Auction features five championship rings, Dave Cowens’ MVP Award, Julius "Dr. J" Ervin’s ABA All-Star jersey and many other rarities.
autographed road jersey comes to auction from two-time Hall of Famer and Top 50 player Lenny Wilkens. “This is the only Lenny Wilkens game-used St. Louis Hawks jersey known to exist. There will be huge interest in this lot,” Russek predicted. “It has everything going for it – rarity, provenance, the connection to a Hall of Famer and Top 50 player, and an LOA from Lenny himself.” Reserve: $10,000.
Lot 30 in the auction consists of two letters the UCLA Bruins’ head coach John Wooden hand-wrote in 1968 to his close friend and fellow Hall of Famer Charles “Stretch” Murphy. The sensational contents of the letters detail in frank terms the strained relationship between Wooden and his star player Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). “These eye-opening letters have to be read to be believed,” said Russek. They will be auctioned as one lot with a $10,000 reserve.
The auction inventory boasts five championship rings, including Robert Horry’s 2005 San Antonio Spurs World Championship ring and Bailey Howell’s 1968 Boston Celtics World Championship ring. On the collegiate side, there’s sure to be strong competition for Lynn Shackelford’s 1966-67 UCLA Bruins NCAA Championship ring.
Several items came directly to Grey Flannel from colorful Class of 2011 inductee Dennis Rodman. Within the selection are: the painting used as cover art for Rodman’s autobiography Bad As I Wanna Be, Rodman’s game-used Bulls sneakers, and an array of awards, including his 1990-91 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award (reserve $2,500). Rodman’s much-publicized fling with Madonna is recalled in Lot 63 – a basketball hand painted with an alluring image of the athlete’s one-time girlfriend in scanty black lingerie.
The highest achievement to which an NBA player can aspire is the Most Valuable Player Award (a k a The Podoloff Trophy). For the first time ever, an NBA MVP Award will make its appearance at auction, when Grey Flannel opens the bidding on the 1972-73 trophy given to former Boston Celtic Dave Cowens. Standing 3ft. 9in. tall, the trophy comes straight from Cowens’ personal collection and is cataloged together with a photo match. This infinitely important award from a Hall of Famer and Top 50 player has been chosen to serve as the featured final lot of the sale and carries a reserve of $10,000.
Grey Flannel’s Friday, Aug. 12, 2011 auction will take place at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, 1000 W. Columbus Ave., Springfield, MA 01105, starting at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. In addition to in-person and phone bidding, Grey Flannel welcomes absentee bids, including by phone (please call to reserve a line) and through its website: www.GreyFlannelAuctions.com. Printed catalogs are free to all registered bidders. The fully illustrated electronic version of the catalog may be viewed online at www.GreyFlannelAuctions.com.
To request a catalog, register as a bidder or obtain further information on any lot in the auction, call 631-288-7800, ext. 223; email gfcsports@aol.com.
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1972-73 Dave Cowens Boston Celtics NBA Most Valuable Player Award. Grey
