This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 9/7/2013.
The 1960 USA Men’s Olympic Basketball team defeated all eight of their opponents by an average of more than 40 points. The youngest player selected for the Olympic Team, the 20-year-old Lucas was originally slated to come off the bench behind future NBA stars Walt Bellamy and Darrall Imhoff but he emerged as a starter during the tournament and even tied Oscar Robertson for the team scoring lead with 17.0 ppg. Lucas was the star of the final round, as he scored 25 points in the final game against Brazil. U.S. coach Pete Newell later called Lucas "the greatest player I ever coached, and the most unselfish." This jersey was worn by Jerry Lucas during the team’s historic run in the Rome 1960 Summer Olympics. On the left front tail is the “Wilson” manufacturer’s tag with an attached flag tag “46 +3”. Across the front is “U.S.A.”. Player number “11” appears on both the front and back. All numbers and letters are done in blue on red tackle twill. The jersey is properly tagged, was presented to us as game-used and in our opinion, shows appropriate use. Accompanied by a LOA from Jerry Lucas.
This lot will come with a hand signed letter from Jerry Lucas as well as a Naismith Memorabilia Basketball Hall of Fame letter of authenticity.
Lots 1–17 presented in this auction catalog are consigned to us directly from NBA Hall of Famer and Top 50 great Jerry Lucas. Jerry Lucas is one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the game. Lucas is one of only three players in history to win championships at every level (high school, college, NBA, Olympics); was named one of the Top Fifty players in NBA history; and named one of the Top 15 All-Time March Madness Players. During his career Lucas was a 7-time All-Pro, was the NBA All-Star Game MVP and is the only forward in league history to pull down 40 rebounds in a game. In 1973, he was a member of the New York Knicks World Championship team. He retired from the game with time remaining on his contract to pursue his passion of education and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979. We are honored to present this collection at our 2013 Hall of Fame Induction Auction.