This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 6/10/2024.
He was bigger than basketball, one of the few early athletes to straddle the line of sports and pop culture. The most awesome offensive force the game has ever seen. As Oscar Robertson put it in the Philadelphia Daily News when asked whether Chamberlain was the best ever, "The books don't lie." He was the only NBA player to score 4,000 points in a season. He set NBA single-game records for most points (100), most consecutive field goals (18) and most rebounds (55). Perhaps his most mind-boggling stat was the 50.4 points per game he averaged during the 1961-62 season. He retired as the all time points leader and is still tops in rebounds with 23,924. He led the NBA in scoring seven years in a row. He was the league's top rebounder in 11 of his 14 seasons. And as if to prove that he was not a selfish player, he had the NBA's highest assist total in 1967-68. When The Wilt suited up in this purple durene Lakers jersey for his first season in LA, the entire City of Angels turned to the supremely gifted center for hope that he might bring the NBA Championship home from the East. He brought them within a single game of the brass ring. This is the most desirable style of Laker jerseys, purple durene with the five-striped purple, yellow and white trim. It should be noted that this trim style, paired with the placement of the ‘Lakers’ identifier on the chest which has been re-affixed, classifies the jersey as a late 1960's style. This jersey is very special because it crosses over into both basketball and sports marketing history. The NBA would not allow advertising or marketing companies to use the team name across the front of their jerseys. Both the basketball player advertising in television and print had no team names on the fronts of their jerseys. Number (13) appears on front and back in identical white and yellow tackle twill to the team identifier, with ‘Chamberlain’ in a wide arc across the shoulders. Bernie Tiernan would typically hand-tailor his jerseys for players’. The left seam of the jersey has several inches of separation, but this will not be immediately apparent upon display and could certainly be quite simply remedied if desired. This is one of the most desirable, and earliest, of all Chamberlain Lakers jerseys ever offered for public sale. It is matched to three games in the 68-69 season: January 21, January 26 and February 18 of 1969. During this stretch, Chamberlain recorded 95 points and 64 rebounds - registering a double-double in two of the games, including 60-points & 21 rebounds against The Big O. This jersey is properly marked, presented to us as game-used and in our opinion shows excellent wear. Accompanied by a letter from Photo-Match.com, confirming a match, as well as a letter from Sports Investors Authentication, confirming the matches. Also accompanied by a detailed letter from Nick Coppola.