1973-75 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Game Worn Milwaukee Bucks Jersey, MEARS A10....

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Sold on Feb 22, 2014 for:

$28,680.00 Bid Source: Live: Phone bidder

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A tough early gamer from the NBA's most prolific scorer

1973-75 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Game Worn Milwaukee Bucks Jersey, MEARS A10. It was just a year ago, in our February 2013 Platinum Night auction, that we were afforded the good fortune to present the most significant Alcindor/Abdul-Jabbar jersey in the hobby, a rookie-season gamer from the personal collection of the Bucks' teenaged equipment manager. Spirited bidding drove the sale price to $95,600, a world record for the Hall of Fame center's personal wardrobe, which almost never appears on the hobby's auction block.

Thankfully, lightning does occasionally strike twice, and those who missed out on what had been the first opportunity to win a Bucks shirt from the sky-hooking superstar will now have a second. The distinctive style of this road green mesh beauty allows the experts at MEARS to pinpoint use to the final two seasons in Milwaukee prior to Kareem's transfer to the purple and gold of the Los Angeles Lakers. It's the first jersey we've ever encountered that utilizes vinyl identifiers, a format that quickly fell out of favor due to its heat-trapping qualities and its tendency to crack.

We're pleased to report that this enormously important representation has bucked the trend, with just a few minor defects to the vinyl almost too insignificant to mention. A scripted "Milwaukee" climbs above Abdul-Jabbar's fabled double-threes on the chest, those digits repeated on verso beneath the long arch of the Hall of Famer's newly-adopted surname. Triple "Sand-Knit" tagging in the tail report Bucks exclusivity, the local Milwaukee distributor and "Size 44" respectively. The experts at MEARS characterize game use as "moderate."

Kareem would average over twenty-eight points per game, and nearly three and a half blocks, during his final two seasons in Dairyland when this jersey saw action, claiming his third of six career NBA MVP Awards for the earlier half of the potential range. The 1974-75 season would see the debut of his famous goggles, which would come to be his trademark, worn to protect an eye injured in the 1974 preseason.

A black sharpie signature on the chest rates 9+/10, closing the book on a rare garment earning the experts' highest assessment. Full LOA from PSA/DNA. Full LOA from James Spence Authentication. LOA from MEARS, A10.