FALL 2012 Auction

In the middle of perhaps the greatest five-year statistical run that any NBA player ever had, Oscar Robertson found himself winning the 1963-64 Most Valuable Player Award for essentially doing the very same thing in his fourth years that he had done in his first three: a triple-double, complete with a career-high 31.4 points-per-game average. Only this time he had a bit more help with the arrival of Rookie of the Year Jerry Lucas, and the Royals ended up the season with the best log of Robertson's storied career there at 55-25. Their grand effort that year stalled only in the Eastern Conference Finals when injuries to Lucas and Bud Olsen proved to be too much to overcome. For his part, Robertson was awarded the 44-inch Most Valuable Player Trophy, with a gold-plated basketball that resembles the modern NBA title award, with a 12-inch silver player at the top. The massive trophy has a three-tired wooden base with descending dimensions (one foot square at the base). A three-column 17-inch spire supports the 9-inch diameter basketball, which also includes a 7-inch silver figure atop a small marble pedestal. The 7-by-3-inch gold plate on the largest of the wood sections has the words "Most Valuable Player" and "Oscar Robertson" in all caps; on the next level below a 9-by-2-inch nameplate notes that the award was presented to Robertson at the East-West All-Star Game in St. Louis on January 13, 1965. Almost certainly this is one of the most important NBA individual awards from this important era of the league's colorful history. Comes with a Letter of Authenticity from Oscar Robertson and a photograph of the young star being given the award at the All-Star Game.