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The NBA was founded in 1946 i.e. 71 years ago. Through these years, the league has seen many phases and some NBA memorabilia have a great value which makes everyone scratch their head. NBA enthusiasts and collectors are crazy about some of the most valuable NBA stuff and they are ready to pay any price to get them.
Some items get auctioned by the NBA or by the players, which are either attached to players or to the NBA. The money raised from that auction is generally given as charity.
Here are the 10 most valuable NBA items ever:
#10 Michael Jordan's Converse shoes
Michael Jordan's shoes
Arguably the greatest basketball player ever Michael Jordan appeared in the 1984 Olympics, which was held in Los Angeles, USA, with the Converse sneakers during the basketball finals against Spain. The USA national team won the Gold medal and Jordan's impressive performance led the team to the Gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics made his shoe valuable.
The 1984 Summer Olympics was Jordan's first career Olympics added more value to his game-worn Converse shoes.
Later on, Jordan even autographed those shoes which once again added more money to it and in the auction in 2017, those shoes were sold at $190,000 (approx.) The 1984 Summer Olympics were the last time Jordan stepped into the Converse sneakers and that pair is the most expensive game-worn basketball shoes sold in an auction.
#9 Julius Erving's 1976 ABA Championship Ring
ABA, the American Basketball Association had merged with the NBA in 1977 but before that Julius Erving played in the ABA for the New Jersey Nets and won 2 Championships with them.
Julius Erving did an online auction in 2011 to get out of some debts and even sold some of his rings which he earned during his basketball career. In the 1976 ABA season, Erving averaged 29.3 points per game and 11.0 rebounds per game. He averaged a massive 34.7 points per games and 12.6 rebounds during the Playoffs which led his team to the Championship.
Usually, NBA stars never sell their championship rings but Erving sold his rings and the 1976 ABA Championship ring earned him $195,000 in an online auction in 2011. Erving's great performance in the 1976 ABA championship surely added to the value of the ring.
#8 Julius Erving's 1983 & 1984 NBA All-Star rings
Another Julius Erving item. Erving sold many items he earned and the 1983 & 1984 NBA All-Star rings were 2 of those. Erving sold both the rings for $218,977 each.
These rings were sold at a higher price than his 1976 ABA Championship ring. In the 1983 All-Star game, Erving was the MVP increased the value of that ring. In the 1984 NBA All-Star game, Erving recorded 34 points on the scoreboard and had an amazing game on the floor which helped him to fetch a massive amount of $218,977 from the 1984 All-Star ring.
#7 Julius Erving's 1978 NBA All-Star ring
The Julius Erving auction included his 1978 All-Star ring. This ring was sold for a whopping $238,853. It could be because it's an older ring that the 1983 & 1984 one but the 1983 All-Star ring would have gone for more than this because he was the MVP of the 1983 All-Star game, but someone paid more for the 1978 All-Star ring.
It seems like Julius Erving was in a huge debt because of which he decided to sell so many items which are attached to him.
#6 Julius Erving's 1983 NBA Championship ring
Julius Erving's another ring was sold. Erving won his only Championship with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983. Erving had a superb playoff performance in the 1983 season and that could also be seen during the finals. The Philadelphia 76ers swept the Los Angeles Lakers by 4-0.
Erving's performance clearly made his 1983 NBA Championship ring more valuable and he managed to sell that ring for $244,000. Look at that big and beautiful diamond at the center of the ring, no one would ever want to let that ring go, but Erving had to clear all of his debts and he had to sell that ring and he did so.
#5 Basketball signed by Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson
In 1992, Michael Jackson met Michael Jordan for his "Jam" music video. Jordan was unsure about this music video, he was hesitating from doing this. Jordan didn't want to dance in a video even with the greatest pop singer of all-time Michael Jackson. But getting to know Jackson a bit was a golden opportunity for Jordan and he agreed on that.
In that video, both Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan played basketball together and signed the basketball with which they played together in that video. That basketball which was signed by the 2 most popular Michael Js was sold for $294,000.
#4 Julius Erving's first Championship ring
1974, the First ever championship for Julius Erving and for the New York Nets as well. Erving was getting more efficient and carried his team to the Championship. As the New York Nets won the 1974 ABA championship, they became on of the best teams in the ABA and Erving became the best player in the league.
The 1974 ABA Championship ring which Erving earned with the New York Nets was sold at a price of $460,000. This much of a price for a championship ring is insane, but the fact that this was Erving and The New York Nets' first championship ring added more value to this ring and maybe that's why that ring fetched this much money.
#3 Metta World Peace's 2010 NBA Championship ring
All right, we can accept that Julius Erving' first championship ring for $460,000 because it's old and has a reason to it, but what makes Metta World Peace's 2010 NBA championship ring more valuable that Erving's?
So, Metta World Peace or Ron Artest (which is his previous name) auctioned his championship ring for a charity and was able to raise more than $500,000 for the ring.
The reason behind this much amount could be that it's a Los Angeles Lakers' championship ring. Ultimately, the raised money was donated to Artest's founded Xcel University charity, which works for the mental health issues of the youth who are on a high-risk.
#2 1998 NBA finals Utah Jazz's court floor
Neither a player's autographed game-worn Jersey nor a player's game-worn autographed signature shoes, but the floor of the 1998 NBA finals was sold and it collected a huge amount. Who would forget the pull-back game-winning shot by Michael Jordan in the 1998 NBA Finals held between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz?
The Upper Deck trading card company bought the Utah Jazz floor for the 1998 NBA finals game 6 for $1,000,000, if you think counting zeros is a waste of time, then the amount is $1 million. How many times have you seen a trading card company buying the floor of a basketball court?
Well, that was the 1st time a trading card company did a move like this.
#1 First Basketball rules made by Dr. James Naismith
Dr. James Naismith, who invented the game of basketball back in 1892, also made 13 rules of basketball on January 11, 1892. Even after 126 years later, those rules are in great shape. These rules were auctioned in 2010 and were sold at a huge amount.
The rules book was sold for $4.3 million, that's pretty insane but what's interesting here is that these rules were then donated to the Kansas University for free. Another thing which is noticeable is this set of 13 rules was sold for more than some of the most important pieces of American history.
It's obvious that the invention of basketball changed the world of sports, but getting sold for $4.3 million is not easy for everyone to accept.
Guess the Lakers players!
