A 19-year-old who bought a Wilt Chamberlain Lakers warmup jacket for $3.07 at an Oregon thrift store may be in line for a major payday, according to ABC News. The jacket is now being auctioned by Sotheby’s and could sell for more than $150,000 when bidding closes Monday.
Quinn Brown found the yellow short-sleeved jacket in a Goodwill store outside Portland in January after seeing it tossed back onto a clothing pile, according to the report. Brown, who has spent the past three years reselling thrifted clothes online, later searched for images of Chamberlain wearing a similar jacket and found stitching and size details that appeared to match.
After Brown posted a photo of the jacket on social media, Sotheby’s reached out about consigning it for auction, and the auction house later verified that it was worn by Chamberlain during the 1972 NBA Finals. Chamberlain was named Finals MVP that year after the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New York Knicks.
Sotheby’s described the jacket as an extraordinary piece of memorabilia and said photomatching game-worn clothing from that era is exceptionally rare. Brown said he felt lucky to have stumbled onto the item and is eager to see what it ultimately sells for.
