Jabbar’s rookie ‘Alcindor’ jersey, also from Bucks ‘70-‘71 chmpshp,expected $100,000+ at auction Lew Alcindor’s '69-71 game worn Bucks jersey (last before becoming K. Abdul-Jabbar), and more items expected to bring over $150,000 at auction on 2/23 Heritage Auctions’ Platinum Night Sports event.
pair the superstar ever wore, in the 1974 season, after his cornea was scratched in a game. After searching far and wide, the team came across the goggles, made by a French company, and ordered them for Kareem. Out of the many the team tried, this pair was the most comfortable and efficient and the team ordered several more pairs.
“After a certain amount of play the goggles got scratched,” said McBride. “Kareem discarded them for the next pair and I got these.”
As far as desirability goes, it seems fairly obvious to collectors why these pieces would be so prized.
“These three pieces, and everything that Dr. McBride has consigned to the auction, have everything you could possibly want,” said Chris Ivy, Director of Sports Auctions at Heritage Auctions. “They have a rock solid provenance – they’ve never left Dr. McBride’s possession and he is very well known in the NBA – and are associated with two of the greatest athletes to ever play professional sports, period, from an amazingly storied season. Things like this don’t come around often.”
For McBride, whose hustle and hard-work in his youth set him on his successful path as an adult, the auction is bittersweet, if an obvious decision.
“I’ve had them for 40 years and have enjoyed them every minute but I’m not young anymore,” he said. “I’d rather do something meaningful for my family by securing their future and donate to some important charities at the same time while ensuring these pieces are properly taken care of for posterity.”
