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By Sam Garcia
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Trading a transistor radio for a UCLA men's basketball jersey in the parking lot of The Forum in the mid-to-late 1970s has turned into a seven-figure payday for one man.
The man, whom The Athletic referred to as David, acquired the UCLA jersey worn by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during the Bruins' victory in the 1968 NCAA national championship. In exchange for the jersey, he traded his transistor radio. At the time, David said he did not know the jersey was game-worn, and he traded for it because he was a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and UCLA.
David told The Athletic he did not have a place to display the jersey, so he decided to sell it.
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“Even growing up, getting married, having kids, the whole shebang, I just basically kept in good condition,” David said. “I moved two or three times, ended up in Oregon here, and then I just decided I’m tired of carrying this around. I really don’t have a place to put it up where it will be appreciated.”
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Photo Matching Confirmed Identity of Jersey
David got in contact with Grey Flannel Auctions. The company was able to use photo-matching to identify that the jersey had been worn by Abdul-Jabbar during the national championship game.
“We started right away to dig into period photography to start matching up unique characteristics,” Michael Russek, director of operations at Grey Flannel told The Athletic. “We knew right away that we had something special.”
Grey Flannel Auctions will sell the jersey at an auction this weekend. Bidding has reportedly already surpassed $1 million.
“It’s amazing. I mean, when you hear something like that, and you’ve taken care of it and carried it around all these years,” David said. “I didn’t have a place to put it up, and it comes back with that significance. I’m still in awe of it.”
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