Tag Archives: Dream Team
Christian Laettner and “The Shot” are forever linked in basketball lore. Depending on one’s loyalty, it was either a miracle or a tragedy. There were 2.1 seconds remaining in overtime in the 1992 NCAA East Regional Final and Duke trailed Kentucky 103-102. Laettner took a 70-foot inbounds pass from Grant Hill at the top of the key, faked right, turned to the left and dribbled once, and then buried the game-winning shot against Kentucky. That would lead to Duke’s second national title.
A basketball signed by members of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Dream Team from the Chuck Daly Estate Collection sold for $230,041 to tally the highest bid in SCP Auctions’ Mid-Summer Classic, which concluded early Sunday morning. The multi-signed basketball (autographed by 11 players including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird plus Coach Daly) was used in the U.S. Men’s 117-85, gold medal-clinching victory over Croatia in Barcelona. According to SCP officials, it’s the most ever paid for a single basketball sold at auction.
A prized Dream Team-signed basketball from the Chuck Daly Estate Collection sold for $230,041 to tally the highest bid in SCP Auctions’ Mid-Summer Classic, which concluded early Sunday morning. It is the highest price ever paid for a basketball at auction. 
The multi-signed, painted basketball (autographed by 11 players including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird plus Coach Daly) was used in the U.S. Men’s 117-85, gold medal-clinching victory over Croatia in Barcelona. The entire auction of nearly 1,000 sports memorabilia lots brought in $2.5 million.
“The outstanding results of this auction prove once again that the market for historic memorabilia with exceptional provenance has never been stronger,” said SCP Auctions Vice President Dan Imler.
Other top lots included a rare 1968 Ernie Banks game-worn Cubs home jersey from a season in which “Mr. Cub” hit 32 home runs that sold for $137,865; a 1960’S Dwight D. Eisenhower-used custom golf bag and full set of specially engraved “General Ike” Spalding clubs that went for $121,122; and a 1970 Nolan Ryan New York Mets game-worn home flannel jersey captured $60,667.
Overall, the Chuck Daly Estate Collection brought in $333,547, led by the sale of the Dream Team-signed, game-used Barcelona Summer Games basketball. 
Part 4 of the Newport Sports Museum Collection realized $274,901, led by the sale of presidential golf sets used by Eisenhower, Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford, while the Johnny Murphy Estate Collection took in a total of 72,620, led by the sale of his 1938 New York Yankees World Champs pocket watch which went for $33,378.
Other highlights from the auction included:
• 1996 NBA 50 Greatest Players Signed Lithograph – NBA Edition (6 of 100) – $34,190
• 1968 Boston Celtics 10K Gold NBA Championship Ring (Tom Thacker)- $29,336
• Carl Erskine’s 1956 N.L. Champion Brooklyn Dodgers 10K Gold Cuff Links and Tie Pin – $28,651
• 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games 1st Place Winner’s Gold Medal – $24,243
• Babe Ruth Autographed Hillerich & Bradsby Model 40 B.R. Signature Model Bat – $20,724
The buyers of the items wish to remain anonymous at this time. All prices include a buyer’s premium. Full auction results are available at www.scpauctions.com. -Terry Melia
While a jury decided last week that using Michael Jordan’s likeness in an ad without his permission will cost supermarket chain owner Safeway $8.9 million in damages, collectors were uninspired by the value of some of the basketball legend’s game-worn shoes. Five pairs of sneakers worn by the former Chicago Bulls great sold in an auction over the weekend, but for far less than the $71,553 that a used pair of his shoes sold for in April.
Michael Jordan may not do any endorsement deals for less than $10 million, but bids so far for a handful of his game-worn shoes have been relatively cheap. Five pair of the former Chicago Bulls great’s sneakers are up for grabs this week from Laguna Niguel, Calif.-based SCP Auctions.
A game-used basketball from the gold-medal game at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 — signed by 11 members of the Dream Team and coach Chuck Daly — is the centerpiece of a current auction of the former Detroit Pistons coach’s memorabilia at SCP Auctions.
Is there any debate that the 1992 USA Basketball squad, dubbed the Dream Team, was the greatest to ever take the court? Featuring such all-time greats as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, they made short work of their opponents en route to the Gold Medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The basketball from the final game has hit the auction block with SCP Auctions. It’s part of the personal collection of the late Chuck Daly, the team’s coach. His estate has several items in SCP’s Summer Premier Auction.
The late NBA head coach Chuck Daly was known for his ability to create harmony out of diverse personalities at all levels of basketball. He could bridge differences between superstar Dream Teamers like Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley as well as Pistons teammates as unalike as Dennis Rodman and Joe Dumars. 
Daly once said: “It’s a players’ league. They allow you to coach them or they don’t. Once they stop allowing you to coach, you’re on your way out.” Next month, starting on Wed., August 5, dozens of pieces from Daly’s personal memorabilia collection go on the auction block at www.scpauctions.com. The company’s Mid-Summer Classic online auction concludes on Sat., August 22.
Topping the list of coveted items from the Daly Collection is an important 1992 U.S. Men’s Basketball “Dream Team” signed and painted game-used basketball from the team’s historic Olympic gold medal winning game against Croatia. A total of 12 signatures (11 players plus Daly) can be found on the prized basketball including Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone and Charles Barkley. Other noteworthy items from the Daly Collection include his hand-written notes scribbled during his first meeting with the Dream Team members in June of 1992, as well as an original type-written and signed letter from Michael Jordan to the coach in November of ‘94. An Olympic torch, jackets, sweaters and polo shirts from the Games as well as several team-signed basketballs from Daly’s successful NBA coaching days round out the assortment. Every one of the items comes with exceptional provenance from the Daly Estate.
“Chuck Daly was a player’s coach,” said Dan Imler, vice president at SCP Auctions, “and his memorabilia collection is evidence of the great working relationships he had with the many players he mentored.”
Daly coached in the pros from 1978 until 1999, starting as an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers and ending as the head coach of the Orlando Magic. He lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in May 2009. He was 78 years old. Online bidding is open to registered bidders only. The auction is being conducted at www.scpauctions.com. For more information, call 949-831-3700. -Terry Melia
