Spring 2020 Premium Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/20/2020
Presented is a Wilt Chamberlain signature and inscription in a framed display featuring a 1956 Harlem Globetrotters National Tour program and a color photograph of the legendary pro basketball center in his Globetrotters uniform. Chamberlain has signed the front cover of the program in black marker and inscribed “H.O.F. 78” below his signature. The program depicts the “Uncle Sam” character shooting a basketball with the world globe on it, above the headline “7th Annual World Series Basketball Harlem Globe Trotters vs College All-Americans 1956 National Tour”. The cover is inscribed in blue pen with the score “90” next to the Trotters and “83” next to the College All Americans. The 8 x 10-inch signed program cover is mounted to the left of a blue paper matte, while an 8 x 10-inch color publicity of photo of Chamberlain in his red, white and blue Original Harlem Globetrotters uniform with a Spalding basketball posed on his right knee. The signed program cover and photo are displayed in a 16 x 22½-inch gold wood and glass frame. After completing his junior year at the University of Kansas, and unable to play in the National Basketball Association due to a since-rescinded graduation rule, Chamberlain became a member of the Globetrotters team that made history by playing in Moscow in 1959; the team enjoyed a sold-out tour of the Soviet Union. One particular Globetrotter skit involved Globetrotter captain Meadowlark Lemon collapsing to the ground, and instead of helping him up, Chamberlain threw him several feet high up in the air and caught him like a doll. "[Chamberlain] was the strongest athlete who ever lived", the 210-pound Lemon later recounted. In later years, Chamberlain frequently joined the Globetrotters in the NBA off-season and fondly recalled his time there, because he was no longer jeered at or asked to break records, but just one of several artists who loved to entertain the crowd. On March 9, 2000, his number 13 was retired by the Globetrotters. This item comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA (AF45224).