This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/27/2023
Dr. James Naismith, who was born in Ontario, Canada in 1861, migrated to Springfield, Massachusetts in the late 1880s and never looked back. After teaching at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Nasimith invented the popular game of basketball by using an oversized ball and peach baskets that were hung up high on either end of the school’s gymnasium.
This lot offers an original black-and-white photo showing the master of basketball kneeling in 1936 on a city street corner – sporting a suit and tie, overcoat and fedora – drawing up a basketball play on the cement sidewalk. The patented image of Naismith at his finest late in life has tremendous clarity and remains in outstanding condition, save for a tiny 1 cm crease at the top edge. The verso is stamped by International News Photos and dated "MAR 26 1936". The included paper caption on the back has faded beyond legibility, but based on the morbid "DEAD!" stamp above, we presume his image was used by the press following Naismith's death in 1939 at the age of 78. The 6.5" x 8.5" photograph has been authenticated and encapsulated Type I by PSA/DNA.