A Los Angeles Lakers warmup jacket once worn by Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain sold for $89,600, including buyer’s premium, at Sotheby’s on Monday after originally being purchased from a Goodwill store in Portland, Oregon for just $3.07, according to ESPN.
The remarkable discovery was made in January by 19-year-old Quinn Brown, who had spent the past three years buying and reselling vintage clothing online. Brown was searching through a bargain bin when he noticed a jacket in Lakers colors that caught his attention, according to ESPN.
The jacket featured “Chamberlain” stitched across the back, prompting Brown to do some research after taking it home. While he struggled to find similar sales, he reportedly recalled seeing another Wilt Chamberlain warmup jacket sell for five figures years earlier.
After Brown shared photos of the jacket online, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, Brahm Wachter, contacted him and encouraged him to consign the item for auction. Sotheby’s then worked with SIA Photo Match to authenticate the jacket and confirm its history.
The authentication process revealed the jacket was far more significant than anyone initially realized.
The warmup jacket was likely worn throughout the Lakers’ historic 1971-72 championship season and was definitively photo-matched to the 1972 NBA Final, according to the Sotheby’s lot description. That postseason saw Chamberlain capture his second NBA championship, help deliver the Lakers’ first title in Los Angeles and earn the only NBA Finals MVP award of his career after the honor was introduced in 1969.
The jacket was also matched to the 1972-73 season, Chamberlain’s final year in the NBA. During that campaign, he set a single-season field goal percentage record by shooting 72.7 per cent, a mark that stood until the 2019-20 season.
With authenticated Chamberlain memorabilia becoming increasingly difficult to find, the once-overlooked thrift store purchase has now become one of the most valuable vintage NBA discoveries in recent years, turning a $3.07 gamble into an $89,600 payday.
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