Wilt Chamberlain's NBA Finals jersey from 1972, worn during Game 2 and the championship-clinching Game 5, exceeded expectations by selling for a staggering $4.9 million at Sotheby's auction on Wednesday night. This sale set a new record for any piece of Chamberlain memorabilia.
Chamberlain's performance in the 1972 Finals earned him the Finals MVP Award, his first and only one. It's worth noting that the award was not introduced until 1969, a decade after Chamberlain began his NBA career.
The 1972 NBA Finals were remarkable for the Los Angeles Lakers, featuring a star-studded roster including Gail Goodrich, Jerry West, Pat Riley, and Chamberlain. They were coached by Bill Sharman and secured their first championship in Los Angeles after the franchise's move from Minneapolis in 1960. This was the same year that the Lakers drafted Jerry West. In this Finals series, they defeated the New York Knicks.
Prior to this auction, the highest price ever paid for Chamberlain memorabilia was $1.792 million for his rookie-year Philadelphia Warriors uniform, which was sold by SCP Auctions in June. This uniform also held the record for the most expensive game-worn vintage (pre-1980) NBA item until Chamberlain's 1972 Finals jersey surpassed it.
Chamberlain's $4.9 million jersey now ranks as the third-most expensive NBA jersey ever sold at auction. It falls behind the autographed $5.8 million Kobe Bryant jersey from his MVP season in 2007-08 and the $10.1 million "Last Dance" 1998 NBA Finals jersey worn by Michael Jordan. Notably, all three of these high-value NBA jerseys were auctioned by Sotheby's.