Wilt Chamberlain continues to set records more than six decades after he started his NBA career.
A uniform from Chamberlain’s 1959-60 rookie season with the Philadelphia Warriors sold at auction over the weekend for $1.79 million through SCP Auctions, becoming the most expensive game-worn, vintage (pre-1980) NBA jersey ever sold.
Chamberlain was drafted third overall by the Warriors in the 1959 NBA Draft, and he wasted no time rewriting the league’s history books.
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Wilt the Stilt averaged a league-leading 37.6 points and 27.0 rebounds per game in 1959-60 and shattered the NBA’s single-season scoring record. He became the first player in league history to be named Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. Wes Unseld is the only other NBA player to accomplish the feat.
As for the rookie uniform, SCP Auctions said that Chamberlain wore the jersey and shorts combination for every home game during the 1959-60 campaign. The company says it was procured “directly from Wilt Chamberlain decades ago by his close friend who would become a trusted collector in the hobby,” and multiple authenticators also confirmed that the stains on the jersey are Chamberlain’s blood.
While Chamberlain’s rookie uniform set vintage records, it is far from the most expensive NBA jersey of all time. A game-worn Michael Jordan jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals in his “Last Dance” season with the Chicago Bulls sold for $10.1 million last September.
