Auction Item Details
Lot 57
LOADING IMAGES
Lot Number: 57
Description: United States Olympic Basketball Team professional model warm up pants autographed and attributed to Bill Russell c.1956. Very rare pair of navy blue warm pants as worn by the U.S. Men's Olympic basketball team. Pants retain their original Wilson tag on the interior having supplemental tag with "34x5"x2" sizing label along with small red "6" denoting uniform number. Original red on white felt "6" remains affixed to the left front hip area with some separation of the stitching from the pants at bottom of numeral. The pants have been signed in silver sharpie "Bill Russell #6 56 Gold". Very heavy evident use throughout while remaining in original condition with no restoration. The origins of these particular warm up pants trace back to Bill Russell's housekeeper, Alice MacDonald, who had been given the pants by Russell in the 1970s. Around 1991, the pants were sold by MacDonald's husband (Malcolm) to a collector and sporting goods company owner in the Melrose, MA after his wife had passed away. The MacDonald's had also lived in Melrose, MA which was an area very close to Reading, MA address where Russell had lived at the time of their acquisition by Mrs. MacDonald. For the sake of accuracy, the offered pants currently measure approx. 40" in length which is a bit shorter than other pants from the Russell collection. The cotton material of this pant style was certainly prone to shrinking which could in part explain the sizing differential or this pair of pants could simply have been issued as shorter length than the other known examples. The other sizing, tagging, and of course uniform number are all consistent with the other know Russell pants and are an exact match for the warm up suits worn in the 1956 Olympics. The offered pants will include a signed letter of attribution from Bill Russell with note to the sizing anomaly regarding pant length. The lot will also include full LOA from JSA (autograph) and LOA from Hunt Auctions: VG-EXEstimated Price Range: ($15,000-$25,000)
Sold for Price: Login or Register