Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Sets a New Record as His Rookie Milwaukee Bucks Jersey Sells for $675,000 at Heritage

Wilt Chamberlain, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth cards and Vince Lombardi’s phone dial up a $16.5 million finish for Fall Sports Catalog Auction DOWNLOAD DIGITAL PRESS KIT DALLAS, Texas (Nov. 20, 2023) — On February 7, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar saw his NBA all-time scoring record fall to fellow Los Angeles Laker LeBron James. But just nine months later, the man called Cap by his teammates reached a brand-new milestone when a road Milwaukee Bucks jersey worn by Abdul-Jabbar during his first two historic seasons sold for $675,000 at Heritage. This road-green jersey is now the world's most valuable piece of Abdul-Jabbar memorabilia ever sold at auction. This record-setter is worthy of its new-found glory: Photo-matching revealed Abdul-Jabbar, then Lew Alcindor, wore this jersey during the 1969-70 season when he was named Rookie of the Year. It was also on his back when, just one season later, Abdul-Jabbar, the league's scoring leader, led the Bucks to an NBA title and was named the Most Valuable Player for the regular season and in the Finals. That jersey was a centerpiece in Heritage's nearly sold-out Nov. 16-18 Fall Sports Catalog Auction, which realized $16,494,541 thanks to the more than 3,500 bidders who participated worldwide. "Kareem was a towering figure who helped turn the Lakers into a dynasty, and this rookie jersey represents the genesis of his remarkable accomplishments," says Chris Ivy, Heritage's Director of Sports Auctions. "For that reason among so many others, it's easily among the finest pieces of Abdul-Jabbar memorabilia on the planet. We expected it would set a new record, and we're extremely proud to have been part of that history." Abdul-Jabbar wasn't the lone hardwood record-setter, as an autographed example of Wilt Chamberlain's 1961 Fleer rookie card realized $276,000. That's nearly twice the previous highwater mark for this example graded PSA VG-EX 4, PSA/DNA Auto 9.Baseball cards, vintage and modern, also seized the spotlight in this auction, led by the fifth-finest set of 1953 Topps baseball cards on the PSA Set Registry, which realized $444,000. No doubt the inclusion of a PSA 8 example of Mickey Mantle's second Topps card helped club that home run. Speaking of Mantle, his first Topps card, that coveted 1952 offering considered one of The Hobby's holiest grails, realized $372,000 in an SCG 7 – a record for that grade. Mantle's fellow New York Yankees legend Babe Ruth also suited up for a record price when the only graded example of the 1921 Shotwell Babe Ruth, a PSA 1.5, realized $192,000. Baltimore Orioles Brooks Robinson also smashed his way into the record books over the weekend when one of only two 1968 Topps 3-D prototypes in the PSA registry realized $60,000. The only-known Carl Yastrzemski 3-D prototype from that same year, this one graded authentic by SGC, realized $21,000. On the modern side, Bryce Harper's most coveted card – the one-of-one 2011 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autograph-Superfractor) graded BGS Gem Mint 9.5, Auto 10 – realized $420,000.  One of the auction's centerpiece offerings was Topps' limited run of cards made for the Venezuelan market and aimed at that country's profoundly passionate baseball fans. They existed for a short time — seven years, on and off, between 1959 and 1968 — and looked like their American counterparts, save for the darker, rougher and less shiny stock. But they are decidedly rare, and the more than 110 offerings in this auction all realized exceptional prices, led by the 1967 Venezuela Topps Sandy Koufax graded PSA NM 7, which scored $37,200. Other highlights from that limited, rare run included a 1967 Venezuela Topps Mickey Mantle PSA NM-MT 8, which sold for $28,800; a 1968 Venezuela Topps Mickey Mantle PSA NM 7, which realized $26,400; and a 1968 Venezuela Topps Willie Mays PSA NM-MT 8 that sold for $21,000.There were numerous fresh-to-The-Hobby pieces in this event, chief among them a newly discovered ball signed by Christy Mathewson nearly a century ago. This gift from The Gentleman's Hurler and Hall of Famer realized $60,000. One of the event's standout offerings was a simple telephone whose silver receiver bore the name of its owner, Green Bay Packers legend Vince Lombardi. This was the phone from Lombardi's office, which he gifted to his secretary Ruth McCloskey upon the coach's departure in 1968, a year before his move to Washington. Bidding on the phone opened at $10,000. It sold for $60,000, a ringing endorsement of Lombardi's eternal popularity among the Green Bay faithful. Click here for complete results from Heritage's Nov. 16-18 Fall Sports Catalog Auction. Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world's largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong. Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet's most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 1,750,000 registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of 6,000,000 past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit. For breaking stories, follow us: HA.com/Facebook and HA.com/Twitter . Link to this release or view prior press releases . Hi-Res images available: Robert Wilonsky, VP Public Relations and Communications 214-409-1887 or RobertW@HA.com