Wilt Chamberlain’s 1959 Philadelphia Warriors Rookie Uniform In the 1959-60 NBA season, the widely heralded Wilt Chamberlain finally made his debut as an NBA player, starting for the Philadelphia Warriors. The Warriors’ draft pick was highly unusual, as it was a so-called “territorial pick” despite the fact Chamberlain had spent his college years in Kansas. However, Warriors owner Eddie Gottlieb, one of the NBA's founding fathers, argued that Chamberlain had grown up in Philadelphia and had become popular there as a high school player. Because there were no NBA teams in Kansas, he argued, the Warriors held his territorial rights and could draft him. The NBA agreed, marking the only time in NBA history that a player was made a territorial selection based on his pre-college roots. From the beginning, Chamberlain brought a level of domination to the game which had seldom been seen before. In his rookie season, Chamberlain averaged an incredible 37.6 points and 27.0 rebounds, obliterating the previous regular-season records. He won both the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Rookie of the Year awards, a feat only equaled by fellow Hall-of-Famer Wes Unseld in the 1968-69 NBA season. By the time he concluded his 14-year career, Chamberlain would rewrite the NBA record books. Chamberlain holds 46 official NBA all-time records, among them 25 regular-season records, setting new precedents in many scoring, rebounding and durability categories. Among others, he is the only player in NBA history to average more than 50 points in a season or score 100 points in a single game. He also won seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, and eleven rebounding titles, and once even led the league in assists. Although his individual feats are often used to define his greatness, Chamberlain helped his teams win. Wilt “The Stilt” appeared in the NBA Finals six times, winning two NBA titles. Chamberlain was subsequently enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA's 35th Anniversary Team of 1980, and chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. This Wilt Chamberlain's 1959 Philadelphia Warriors road uniform was worn during his historic first season in the league. On the inside back tail of the jersey is the "Pearson" label and next to this is a blue patch with "13 40 59" done in white chain stitch and denoting the player number, size, and year respectively. Across the front of the jersey is "Phila." His player number "13" appears on both the front and back of the shirt. All the letters and numbers are made of white tackle twill on a red tackle twill backing. Included with the uniform are matching blue satin trunks. On the inside is a blue patch with "13 36 4 59" done in white chain stitch and denoting the player number, waist size, 4 extra inches in the rise, and the year respectively. Below are three tags. The first is a tag stating "Long," the second is the "Pearson" label, and the last is the size "36." Wilt’s rookie uniform shows magnificent game wear, and stands among the premier basketball artifacts extant. LOAs from MEARS (A10) and Grey Flannel.
Wilt Chamberlain’s 1959 Philadelphia Warriors Rookie Uniform In the 1959-60 NBA season, the widely heralded Wilt Chamberlain finally made his debut as an NBA player, starting for the Philadelphia Warriors. The Warriors’ draft pick was highly unusual, as it was a so-called “territorial pick” despite the fact Chamberlain had spent his college years in Kansas. However, Warriors owner Eddie Gottlieb, one of the NBA's founding fathers, argued that Chamberlain had grown up in Philadelphia and had become popular there as a high school player. Because there were no NBA teams in Kansas, he argued, the Warriors held his territorial rights and could draft him. The NBA agreed, marking the only time in NBA history that a player was made a territorial selection based on his pre-college roots. From the beginning, Chamberlain brought a level of domination to the game which had seldom been seen before. In his rookie season, Chamberlain averaged an incredible 37.6 points and 27.0 rebounds, obliterating the previous regular-season records. He won both the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Rookie of the Year awards, a feat only equaled by fellow Hall-of-Famer Wes Unseld in the 1968-69 NBA season. By the time he concluded his 14-year career, Chamberlain would rewrite the NBA record books. Chamberlain holds 46 official NBA all-time records, among them 25 regular-season records, setting new precedents in many scoring, rebounding and durability categories. Among others, he is the only player in NBA history to average more than 50 points in a season or score 100 points in a single game. He also won seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, and eleven rebounding titles, and once even led the league in assists. Although his individual feats are often used to define his greatness, Chamberlain helped his teams win. Wilt “The Stilt” appeared in the NBA Finals six times, winning two NBA titles. Chamberlain was subsequently enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA's 35th Anniversary Team of 1980, and chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. This Wilt Chamberlain's 1959 Philadelphia Warriors road uniform was worn during his historic first season in the league. On the inside back tail of the jersey is the "Pearson" label and next to this is a blue patch with "13 40 59" done in white chain stitch and denoting the player number, size, and year respectively. Across the front of the jersey is "Phila." His player number "13" appears on both the front and back of the shirt. All the letters and numbers are made of white tackle twill on a red tackle twill backing. Included with the uniform are matching blue satin trunks. On the inside is a blue patch with "13 36 4 59" done in white chain stitch and denoting the player number, waist size, 4 extra inches in the rise, and the year respectively. Below are three tags. The first is a tag stating "Long," the second is the "Pearson" label, and the last is the size "36." Wilt’s rookie uniform shows magnificent game wear, and stands among the premier basketball artifacts extant. LOAs from MEARS (A10) and Grey Flannel.
Try LotSearch and its premium features for 7 days - without any costs!
Be notified automatically about new items in upcoming auctions.
Create an alert
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
