The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the youngest of the three major sports in the United States. Baseball started in the 1800s, football in the 1930s, but basketball came a little bit later.
There
were several basketball leagues that were formed in the New York and Boston
areas in particular, but these leagues were not powerful enough to make any
impact on fans. Often, a game would be played before an ice skating exhibition,
or other event.
However,
things changed when two associations, the National Basketball League and the
American Basketball League merged to become the National Basketball
Association. The year was 1946.
Many of
the rules that fans take for granted today were years from being implemented.
For example, the 24-second clock was not implemented until the mid-1950s. There
were still jump balls at the beginning of each quarter.
However,
the NBA appealed to fans, and persevered. Sometimes, there were doubleheaders.
I remember going to Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, and watching the Hawks play
the New York Knicks play the second game of a twin bill, often seeing the
Celtics play the Syracuse Nationals in the opening game. In fact, when Wilt
Chamberlain scored his record 100 points in a 169-147 Philadelphia victory over
New York on March 4, 1962, in, of all places, Hershey, Pennsylvania, it was the
second game of a doubleheader.
Who
played in the first game that night? Players from the Baltimore Colts and the
Philadelphia Eagles football teams.
How
times have changed. So have the attendance figures and the ticket prices for
that matter.
There
is not too much memorabilia from those early days of George Mikan, Dolph
Schayes, Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, and Paul Arizin.
However,
thanks to the collective effort of the NBA and the Field of Dreams Company, a
piece commemorating the early days of the NBA was devised.
The
year 1996 marked the 50th anniversary of the NBA. What better way to
honor the golden anniversary of one of the premier sports leagues in the world
than to publish a lithograph depicting the faces of the 50 greatest players in
the first 50 years, along with their autograph. The lithograph would be
limited. A poll had to be taken to determine the top 50 players.
As it
so happened, the top 50 players were still alive at the time, except for one.
One of the all-time greatest dribblers and shooters, “Pistol” Pete Maravich had
passed in 1988, ironically playing basketball.
It was
decided that the lithograph would be limited to 250 individually numbered
pieces. There would be 50 that went directly to the players. Of the remaining
200 signed prints, there were 100 “NBA Editions”, 50 “Legends Editions”, and 50
“Field of Dreams Editions”. A few more were offered to the public.
The
print is considered by many to be the most valuable, and highly desirable
signed sports art.
As time
goes on, several of the players depicted in the lithograph have passed,
including Wilt Chamberlain, Paul Arizin, Dave DeBusschere, and Bill Sharman. As
a result, the value of the print continues to escalate, as the sport, as well,
grows in popularity across the world.
Some of
the most recognizable players on the lithograph are Michael Jordan, Shaquille
O’Neal, Bill Russell, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic
Johnson, Jerry West and Bob Pettit.
It is
very difficult to find an NBA 50 Greatest Players lithograph. Most of the
owners of the piece hold onto them.
The
original price to the public of the print was $25,000. The piece has gone for
as much as $100,000 in private sales
In
auctions the lithograph has sold from anywhere from $38,000 - $58,000 in the
last few years. In a 2012 auction Nate Archibald’s personal piece went for
nearly $42,000, while Hakeem Olajuwon’s went for $58,000 in a different
auction.
The
piece will continue to increase in value, so if you have a chance, buy the
item. You will not be disappointed.
For all
fans and collectors of the early days of the NBA this piece is the best way to
remember those glory times.
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