Since the game was first officially played at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the United States has dominated Olympic basketball. In the pre-1992 days when all participants were amateurs, no team was as powerful as the 1960 squad. Carefully assembled by Cal-Berkley coach Pete Newell, Team USA included future Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Walt Bellamy, and Jerry West and six other players who would eventually star in the NBA. The Americans blasted through the competition in Rome, winning all eight contests by an average margin of 42 points and culminating with a 90-63 win over Brazil in the Gold Medal Final.
To recognize the importance of every member of this once-in-a-lifetime team, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inducted the entire squad as a whole in 2010. To memorialize this achievement, each of the 11 living members (Lester Lane passed in 1973) of the 1960 team was issued one of these beautiful rings.
This particular ring was presented to the team’s co-captain and basketball legend, Oscar Robertson. The top of the ring features a red stone surmounted by a CZ and golden laurels. “BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME” runs around the edge in raised letters. The left shank has two players with a raised “OLYMPIC TEAM” while the right shank has “1960” above the Hall of Fame logo. Made of yellow Lustrium, “YLTM” is stamped inside the band. The ring comes in a massive size 15 and shows minor wear overall. An impressive ring commemorating the greatest amateur basketball team ever assembled from its biggest star, The Big O. To our knowledge, Jerry Lucas’ ring is the only other to be offered publicly. Includes LOA from Oscar Robertson.
PLEASE NOTE: Oscar will donate a portion of his auction proceeds to the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center and LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics at Dana Farber. This renowned cancer treatment center “provides comprehensive care to patients with multiple myeloma, including promising new therapies through clinical trials rooted in an approach that brings laboratory discoveries quickly to the clinical setting” (https://www.dana-farber.org/multiple-myeloma-program).