This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/27/2013
As the last few seconds ticked off on Game 6 of the 1976 Finals and the Boston Celtics nailed down the fabled franchise’s record 13th NBA crown, John Havlicek snagged the basketball as time expired and promptly tucked it away under his arm with roughly the same tenacity that a lioness might display with a newborn tiger cub. We know this not from decades of lore and legend passed down through the generations, but from clear video from the period telecast.
Havlicek certainly couldn’t have known that it would also be his eighth and final NBA title in his storied 16-year career with the Celtics, but if you watch the video closely it’s pretty apparent that he had a rock-solid understanding about the historic significance of the basketball as he guarded it while wading through the mayhem to get to the locker room. Here then is that ball that was used in the final game of the historic 1976 NBA Finals that had featured what is widely regarded the Greatest Basketball Game ever played, the tumultuous Game Five that went into three raucous overtimes before the Celtics prevailed. The official Wilson NBA ball shows good use, along with elaborate gold-and-black block-letter printing added to provide the details of the historic moment. One panel has “1976 NBA Championship, Boston 87 Phoenix 80; a second panel has imprinting of the date “June 6, 1976 at Phoenix.” The distinctive Havlicek autograph appears in bold, black Sharpie on the second panel. All things considered; the event, the source, the video documentation and more, a collector would be hard pressed to find a more desirable Boston Celtics game used basketball.
Includes a LOA from John Havlicek.
Pre-certified by PSA/DNA.