A week-long auction of memorabilia from the collection of 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell culminated on Friday during a live event at TD Garden in Boston.
The two-time inductee at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame put up 429 lots for auction, including his two NBA championship rings – the first and the last – and the jersey. of the Celtics that he wore to his last NBA game.
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David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions, who has also worked with the Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Roberto Clemente collections, said: The most important set of athletes ever put up for auction.
“We’ve been very fortunate to have worked with some of the icons in the sport. Without a doubt, Bill is on that team,” Hunt added.
How much is the auction of Bill Russell memorabilia?
Overall, according to The Associated PressThe top 18 items at the auction grossed over $5.3 million.
The best-selling item was the jersey Russell wore in his last NBA game, the clincher in the 1969 Finals that earned him and the Celtics their 11th championship in 13 years.
The 87-year-old NBA legend has pledged some of the proceeds from the auction to MENTORs, which connect young people with mentors that could give them opportunities they might otherwise miss, and the Boston Celtics United for Social Justice, an organization that fights racial injustice and social inequality in the greater Boston area.
| Item | Sell to |
| The ultimate NBA jersey | Over 1.1 million dollars |
| First NBA round | $705,000 |
| Olympic Gold Medal 1956 | $587,500 |
| 5 NBA MVP titles | Over $1.3 million combined |
Earlier in the week, two young NBA legends, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley, expressed interest in bidding on items, looking at those for sale.
“I wanted to get some of that out of their hands,” O’Neal said Tuesday on TNT’s “Inside the NBA.” “To be able to have all of those 11 rings, no one appreciates that ring more than me.”
“What he’s done for citizenship in this country is unmatched,” Barkley said on the broadcast. “He and (Muhammad) Ali will always be my heroes by far. It’s so easy to be a social justice person now that when you have $100 million, you’re making $30-40 million. la every year, but those guys did all the heavy lifting back in the day. I thought I could watch that auction and bid on something.”
One of the entries related to Russell’s civil rights activism is a page from his scrapbook. It included a signed letter from the late Jackie Robinson and sold for $94,000 at auction.
