Dr. J’s ABA Game Worn, Autographed Jersey Sold for $190,414

An autographed jersey worn in 1972-73 by the great Julius “Dr. J” Erving smashed through the existing record for a basketball jersey at auction in Grey Flannel’s May 11 sale with a final bid of $190,414 including a 20% buyer's fee . In total, the event took in $2.4 million, the highest auction gross ever achieved by Grey Flannel.

The Virginia Squires ABA Dr. J jersey was a rare style in use for only one year in the now defunct league. “We had never even seen a common jersey of this type, let alone a Dr. J game-worn example. We knew it had an excellent chance of making $100,000 at auction. It did that and much more,” said Richard E. Russek, president of Grey Flannel Auctions.

The iconic navy and gold UCLA coaching jacket donned by John Wooden was another slam-dunk winner in the sale. Offered with a letter of authenticity signed by the late Bruins' legend, it garnered 17 bids before settling at $183,500.

A serious collector paid $115,242 for Fred Brown's 1979 Seattle SuperSonics NBA championship ring. The sharp-shooting captain of Seattle’s 1978-79 team holds the Sonics’ all-time record for points in a regular season – 58.

Brown’s 14K gold Championship player’s ring, emblazoned “NBA WORLD CHAMPIONS” and featuring a large central diamond, was accompanied by a letter of authenticity written by Brown who said he was donating much of the proceeds to charity after his wife did some housecleaning.

“I think it’s very significant that seven out of the top 10 lots in this sale were associated with basketball. It’s a category that has continued to attract many new and serious collectors to our auctions over the past few years,” said Russek.

Among the top basketball lots were Wilt Chamberlain’s 1968-69 L.A. Lakers Playoffs game-used road jersey, $73,409; a circa-1897 leather-laced basketball with side-panel construction, $59,135; and 1981 NBA Finals MVP Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell’s Boston Celtics World Championship player’s ring with a letter of authenticity from Maxwell, $55,152.

The priciest football-related item was Steve Wright’s Green Bay Packers Super Bowl ring, with LOA, which scored a winning bid of $73,409. “To our knowledge, it is the only player’s ring from the first Super Bowl ever to be offered in a public auction,” said Russek.

Baseball lots were dominated by a 1959 Roberto Clemente Pittsburgh Pirates game-used flannel home jersey vest, which knocked it out of the park at $55,152.

Russek commented that the excitement level for the sale was “unprecedented…The phones ran hot till 6:55 a.m. We knew that the Dr. J jersey, John Wooden jacket and multiple Championship rings would finish at the top, but we didn’t know in what order. It was a great sale, and we want to thank everyone who participated in the bidding.”