Goldin Elite Auction Closing August 22 10PM Est

Lot #12: Incredibly Rare 1973-1976 Julius Erving ABA Game Used New York Nets Full Uniform: Jersey and Shorts (MEARS A8)

Description

Hall of Famer Julius Erving was the pinnacle star of the old ABA and took his aerial game to the NBA, where he flourished with the Philadelphia 76ers – winning the NBA title in 1983. Before joining the NBA, Erving was drafted by the Virginia Squires of the ABA in 1971 and the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA in 1972 in hopes of putting him with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. Erving was not eligible to be drafted by an NBA team until 1972 due to the rules at that time not allowing teams to draft players less than four years removed from high school.

As a rookie for the Squires in 1971-72, Erving established himself as a star player, averaging 27.3 points per game and leading the Squires to the Eastern Division Finals. Following the 1971-72 season, Erving was embroiled in a contract dispute with Virginia and briefly suited up for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, but ultimately rejoined the Squires for the 1972-73 season. Like many of the ABA teams at that time, the Squires were in dire financial straights and ultimately worked out a trade and cash deal with the New York Nets for Dr. J.

1973 began the New York Nets era for Julius Erving, as he led the team to the ABA title in that 1973-74 season and following the 1975-76 season, the ABA and NBA merged, but not before Erving led the Nets to the final ABA title in league history. Offered here is an incredibly rare game used home New York Nets uniform worn by Julius Erving during his three seasons with the New York Nets. The jersey is a Rawlings size 44 sand-knit material with “NETS” and “32” sewn on the front in red tackle twill. The left side has a thick blue stripe with three vertical white tackle twill stars and red border stripes on each side. The right side is all white and the back has “ERVING” and “32” sewn on in red tackle twill. The shoulder straps are thin and the red Rawlings size 44 tag is sewn on the front right tail with a “2 INCH EXTRA LENGTH” flag attached. The jersey displays excellent use with some toning and staining.

The matching shorts were also made by Rawlings and are mostly white with the same thick blue stripe and two white tackle twill stars sewn on. Red stripes border the blue stripe and on the bottoms of both sides of the shorts. The Rawlings size 34 tag is sewn on the inside back waist. “32” is handwritten in black marker next to the Rawlings tag, while black marker is also on the Rawlings tag. This is one of the earliest know game used Julius Erving uniforms to ever come up for auction and this set comes with a LOA from MEARS (317164), who have graded the uniform a solid GU 8.

Final Bid (Includes Buyers Premium):$39,600
Minimum Bid:$10,000
Number of Bids:15