This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/10/2001.
Although Earl "The Pearl" Monroe reached the heights of roundball fame, a part of him never left the Philadelphia playgrounds where he honed his quicksilver "shake and bake" moves and where he learned that in a mano a mano on the court, only the most creative and the most daring shall survive. Whether he was executing his body-bumping turnaround jumper or hang-in-the-air shot delivered from around his knees, "Black Magic" rang up a Rookie of the Year season, posting 24.3 points a game, 4th in the league, pouring in 56 in a game against the Lakers. The high voltage of his game and the high drama of his confontations with future Knick teammate Walt Frazier back then are all brought home by this beautiful white satin Bullet home warmup jacket worn by The Pearl that rookie year. The six button jacket has an elastic ribbed knit neck with blue, white orange striping that is also found on either side and on the waistband. Each arm opening has blue and orange braid. The Rawlings label with size tag "40" is in the inside front button seam. The team's "B" logo is on the left breast and "Baltimore" is across the back, both in navy on orange tackle twill. The number "33" is sewn onto the left sleeve, recalling that Monroe wore that number from November on after starting with No. 15 (and before he switched again to No. 10 later on). Since Monroe jerseys are hard to come by, and his Bullet jerseys nearly impossible, this rookie jacket is a real find. The jacket has scattered stains and fraying at the seams, and there is a hole on the back of the neck, but it still shines like, well, a pearl. It comes with an additional letter of authenticity