Lot 125 email save

Bob Pettit 1963-64 St. Louis Hawks Road Jersey (LO

Sign In to see what this sold for

Bob Pettit 1963-64 St. Louis Hawks Road Jersey (LOA From Pettit)
When Bob Pettit came out of college in 1954, no one thought he was talented enough to make it as a professional basketball player. Although he had been a prolific scorer at Louisiana State University, the tall, thin forward was deemed too slight at 200 pounds to survive the pounding of an NBA season. However, the scouts failed to factor in Pettit's willingness to work harder than anyone else on the court in order to succeed, and succeed he did. After 11 years with the Milwaukee and St. Louis Hawks, he retired having become the first player in the league to top 20,000 points. The greatest forward of his era, Pettit was an All-Star in each of his 11 seasons, an All-NBA First Team selection 10 times, and an All-NBA Second Team pick once. He never finished below seventh in the NBA scoring race, and he left the sport with two Most Valuable Player Awards and an NBA championship ring. After Pettit's playing days had ended, rival Bill Russell offered this tribute: "Bob made 'second effort' a part of the sport's vocabulary. He kept coming at you more than any man in the game. He was always battling for position, fighting you off the boards." Pettit's 1963-64 St. Louis Hawks road dureen jersey features a "Rawlings" label with the size "48" on the inside back tail of the jersey next to an adjacent wash tag. Across the front of the jersey is the name "Hawks" in blue tackle twill on a white tackle twill backing. Pettit's player number "9" appears on both the front and back of the shirt in white tackle twill. A custom feature of this jersey is extra material on the underside of the shoulders that was placed there for added comfort. Excellent wear is readily apparent. An accompanying signed letter from Pettit himself attests to the authenticity of this jersey. Additional LOAs from MEARS (A9.5) and Grey Flannel.

View Sotheby's New York next auction.

Similar lots up for auction