This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/29/2020
In a 22 year career spanning from the mid 1930’s to the late 1950’s; Al Cervi was a success everywhere he went. He played in the National Basketball League and the Original NBA with the Rochester Royals and the Syracuse Nationals. He a 3 Time NBL All-Star and won an NBL Championship as a player. He won an NBA Championship as head coach of the Syracuse Nationals. He later went on to coach the Philadelphia Warriors right before Wilt Chamberlain arrived on the scene. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1985. He left the NBA in 1958 to pursue a much more lucrative career in the trucking business. Cervi was so well thought of for his basketball acumen that he was offered a 2 year contract to become the first head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, but turned down the job because his wife was reluctant to leave the Rochester area and he had found success in the business world.
Offered is this Special Citation Certificate Award given to Al Cervi at the 25th annual all-star game played in Phoenix, Arizona on January 14, 1975. It recognizes his all-star selection for 1952 & 1955 in which he served as the head coach for the EAST all-star squad. The certificate measures 9" by 12" and is mounted on pressed plywood to a total measurement of 14" by 11".