This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/10/2004.
This historic George Mikan jersey is one of the most desirable and hard-to-find items in all of sports. It is an artifact of a long-ago era when one man changed what was a game designed for little men shooting two-handed set shots. George Mikan, at 6-foot-10, would be just another big
man by today's standards. By yesterday's standards however, he was a giant among men. Mikan was so big, so smooth and so lethal that he forced rule changes such as the widening of the foul lane to keep him away from the hoop and the institution of the 24-second clock to keep teams from freezing the ball rather than deal with him inside. A quiet man who wore horn-rimmed glasses, Mikan was a fierce competitor who anchored the NBA's first dynasty, the five-time champion Minneapolis Lakers of the early 1950s. Using a patented hook shot as his main weapon, he led the league four times in scoring, twice in rebounding, compiled a 23.1-point average, and won five titles in six seasons before retiring in 1954 to study law. Mikan wore this jersey in the second NBA All-Star Game, played in Boston on Feburary 11, 1952. Mikan, the West's starting center, had 26 points and 15 rebounds. On the front tail of the jersey is the "Horace Partridge" label. The player number "99" appears on both the front and back in white tackle twill. There is an autograph in black ink on the front number "9" rating a strong 7, and there are six red tackle twill stars on both the front and back. This awesome jersey shows game-use and appears to have no alterations of any kind. The autograph comes with a letter from PSA/DNA.