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Three of the most significant basketball cards of the current era, including the one-of-a-kind Cooper Flagg Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card, will be auctioned off through Fanatics Collect next month, the company announced Friday. Alongside the Flagg, Debut Patch cards for San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper and Charlotte Hornets sharpshooter Kon Knueppel will also sell as part of the platform’s September Premier auction, which runs Sept. 10-24.
A piece of NBA history donned by Michael Jordan in the 1998 Finals against the Utah Jazz is set to hit auction next month. A game-worn jersey sported by Jordan in game three at the United Center is expected to reach an eight-figure price tag while on auction from September 15 to September 29.
A Ferrari once owned by Michael Jordan, which later disappeared from public view for more than two decades before being rediscovered earlier this year, will sell at auction this September. Purchased in 1997, the Ferrari made its most notable cameo with Jordan behind the wheel following Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals, where Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls dynasty secured their fifth championship. The 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello, which has a pre-sale estimate of $700,000-$1.3 million, is being brought to auction through a partnership between marketplace Joopiter and Curated, the supercar dealership responsible for rediscovering the vehicle.
The Lelands Summer Class Auction, which ended Aug. 15, offered some truly unique items for sports and history lovers alike. Akron’s own and former Cleveland Cavaliers player, LeBron James, was at the center of a hot auction item. An Oct. 29, 2003, LeBron James NBA debut full ticket was sold for a whopping $24,323.
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A sealed box of 1986-87 Fleer Basketball cards, signed and inscribed by Michael Jordan, sold for $1.48 million in an eBay auction Sunday night. It’s the only unopened box of ’86 Fleer Basketball — the set includes his iconic rookie card, as well as those of multiple NBA legends like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and more — that Jordan has autographed, which he noted with an inscription reading “Rookie Card Box 1/1.”
What’s interesting about the final price of the signed box is that it’s considerably lower than the record $2.7 million that a single Fleer rookie card signed by Jordan sold for last fall, even though the box is a one-of-one while there are more than 100 authenticated ’86 Fleer Jordan autographed cards. It illustrates how scarcity isn’t always the ultimate factor in the collectibles market and how individual cards are often more desirable to collectors.
The discovery of a LeBron James 2022 All-Star Game jersey interrupted the Chamberlain hubbub. Sold on eBay for $800, the jersey was listed as “used” but made no mention that it was used by James himself in the actual NBA All-Star Game. After being photo-matched — a process wherein experts compare identifying details such as unique scuff marks or stitching imperfections to player photos from a particular event — to the jersey James wore in that All-Star Game, memorabilia experts Chris Ivy and David Kohler told The Athletic the eBay find should sell for at least in the $140,000 range, with the possibility of a $250,000 price point.
For someone as seasoned as Ivy, the director of sports auctions for Heritage Auctions, it’s a lesson in always keeping your eyes wide open as a collector. “You’ll get these stories from time to time where somebody gets something super cheap and has no idea what it’s worth and then all of a sudden it’s worth six figures, seven figures,” Ivy said. “That’s the fun part of collecting is that it’s that treasure hunt. It’s (the) thrill (of the) chase that’s so fun for collectors, and there are deals to be had out there.”
During the Knicks' ticker tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes on Broadway just over a month ago, the street, lined with rabid fans, displayed an additional name: Champions Way. Now the Champions Way sign could be displayed on your mantelpiece. The city will auction an authentic Champions Way street sign, with bidding that began at 9 a.m. Wednesday, New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn and Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Yume Kitasei announced on Wednesday.
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A Wilt Chamberlain warmup jacket originally found in a Portland, Oregon, Goodwill sold for $89,600 (including buyer's premium) at Sotheby's on Monday. In January, Quinn Brown, 19, raided a bargain bin, looking for a jacket he'd seen someone toss in that seemed like it bore Los Angeles Lakers colors. Brown had been buying vintage clothes to resell online for three years; his priciest resell had netted him $250. The warmup jacket says "Chamberlain" on the back and cost Brown $3.07.
The jacket turned out to not only be legitimate but a significant piece of Chamberlain and Lakers memorabilia: The jacket was "likely" used throughout the 1971-72 NBA season but was definitively matched to the 1972 NBA Finals, Chamberlain's second title and the Lakers' first championship Los Angeles; Chamberlain also won Finals MVP, his first as the award wasn't introduced until 1969. The jacket was also matched to the 1972-73 NBA season, Chamberlain's last in which he set the single-season record for field goal percentage (72.7%) that wasn't broken until the 2019-20 season.
A thrift store find could now sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. A routine treasure hunt at a Hillsboro Goodwill store in January has turned into a find of a lifetime for 19-year-old Quinn Brown. The Portland resident said he discovered a Los Angeles Lakers warm-up jacket that has since been authenticated as one worn by NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain.
For just $3.07, the jacket was his. Brown said he had an inkling the jacket may be the real deal. So, he posted a photo of it on Instagram, where it caught the attention of Sotheby’s, one of the world’s largest auction houses. Before long, the jacket was on its way to New York, where it was professionally authenticated through SIA Photo Match.