1970 Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) Massive Original Painting by LeRoy Neiman....

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Ten feet tall!

1970 Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) Massive Original Painting by LeRoy Neiman. A life-sized image of the NBA's most prolific scorer, painted by the sporting world's most celebrated artist. We were sure we'd seen the largest Neiman artwork of all time when we sold his eight-foot tall painting of Muhammad Ali for $155,350 back in 2012, but clearly there was just something about Muslim convert sporting legends that brought out the biggest and best in that iconic artist.

However this 1970 painting predates the hoop hero's official rebirth as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the work artist-signed and dated at lower left to Alcindor's NBA Rookie of the Year campaign with the Milwaukee Bucks. But Neiman does something very interesting here, adorning the chest of the superstar seven-footer with the names of each of the three teams he had led--or would lead--to championship glory.

In a touch of unintended foreshadowing, the purple and yellow color palette of the Los Angeles Lakers announces the word "Power" at upper chest. This was the high school squad--Power Memorial Academy--that claimed three straight New York City Catholic championships with a young man nicknamed "The tower from Power." It was here that Alcindor came to the attention of John Wooden, with whom he'd share three NCAA championships at UCLA. From there, it was on to the Milwaukee Bucks and his first of six NBA Championships in 1971. For each of these teams, he remained faithful to the number "33."

As is only proper, Neiman captures his subject engaged in his iconic "sky hook," a pose as famous in basketball history as the high-stepping Heisman stiff-arm is to the gridiron. The work appears to be a combination of watercolor and acrylics on plain brown paper. Clearly Neiman chose this medium--rolled, as there are no fold lines--in order to achieve the massive dimensions he desired. Today the work is showcased in foam-core mat, the visible dimensions 120x35". An absolutely monumental display piece, by every possible metric.