A fantastic presentation of this basketball icon's rookie card, from the special 1969 Topps "tall boy" set, here we present Lew Alcindor. Lew is posed is his Bucks green shooting shirt, about to embark on one of the greatest careers in NBA history, where to this day he remains the all-time scoring leader.
With all due respect to our card grading friends, deeming this card a "6" is like saying Lew Alcindor was an "okay" center. Of course we all know that Lew, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, is on a short list of the most elite players ever to lace them up. While not perfectly centered (top & bottom border), let's just say you will not be disappointed in this cardboard gem. Wow!
Provenance:
As documented in the story The Great Autograph Hunt from the February 5, 1974 Dayton (Ohio) Journal Herald, Jack Zimmerman and his grade school buddies Tim Gallagher and Vince Martin started collecting autographs of athletes through the mail, at games and at team hotels, primarily in the Cincinnati and Dayton areas. The boys were relentless in their pursuit of baseball, basketball and football players, obtaining the stars and "commons" of the day, plus "old timers" and "legends" that were coaches, broadcasters or responsive through the mail. Jack was locked in on collecting from about 1968 through 1975, until pursuit of his own basketball career took priority. Jack became an All-State high school player, then had a Hall of Fame career hooping at the University of Dayton, followed by several seasons as an overseas pro, including suiting up for the prestigious Maccabi Tel Aviv club. Jack's extensive collection was essentially put in a time capsule in 1976 and has literally followed him all over the world. We are proud to present selected treasures from Jack's collection in our Auction, fresh to the hobby and seeing the light of day for the first time in over 45 years!