Tom Abernethy was born and raised in South bend, Indiana, and starred as a basketball player at Indiana University. The 6' 7" small forward was drafted by the L.A. Lakers in the third round of the 1976 NBA Draft and played a total of five season in the NBA for the Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Indiana Pacers. He amassed a total of 1,779 points.
This lot features Abernethy's game-worn Los Angeles Lakers home jersey he wore during his first two seasons in the league when he averaged 6.6 points per game. The gold jersey reads "Lakers" across the front in purple tackle twill outlined in white and shows its age. Abernethy's uniform number "5" appears below the team name in white tackle twill outlined in purple. Within the front number are five different Laker player signatures, all in black ink: Magic Johnson, Norm Nixon, Jamaal Wilkes, Eddie Jordan and Mark Landsberger. On the reverse is Abernethy's last name in arched fashion in purple tackle twill outlined in white, while his uniform number "5" appears again in white tackle twill outlined in purple.
The fine mesh shirt carries the important "Tiernan Glendale, Calif." tagging on the end of the shirttail and, despite its obvious moderate wear and frayed letters, comes in remarkably well-preserved condition. A late 1970's Lakers gamer is not an easy find, no matter who donned the iconic purple and gold, and this home exemplar in certainly a nice add to any Lakers collection. Doesn't hurt that Magic blessed it with his signature either.
Autographs pre-certified by PSA/DNA.