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Authenticity is Everything
eBay wilt Chamberlain postcard
I’m trying to add a Wilt Chamberlain to my collection of autographed basketball player cards and pictures. Could this autograph on eBay be real? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Autographed-3x5-Index-Card-Wilt-Chamberlai...
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Permalink Reply by Deepak Nahar on
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Thanks James. I’m kind of new to this other than autographed basketball cards straight from card companies. How much would a real Wilt Chamberlain signature cost to get?
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Permalink Reply by James on
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There’s a signed copy of his book for $296 or Best Offer. I bet if you offered $200, you might get it. That would be about the cheapest right now. It’s a nice autograph too...with “Peace” inscription. Here’s a link. You could always cut out the page too if you wanted to. It’s PSA authenticated and it is real.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/WILT-CHAMBERLAIN-SIGNED-AUTOGRAPHED-BOOK-A...
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I appreciate the link and advice. I put in my $200 offer and we’ll see what happens. The irony is that Wilt in his autobiography talks about accommodating fans and yet when I wrote to him as a youngster with a glossy photo my dad specifically bought for me to send for the request, it came back Return to Sender even though it was his address.
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Yeah, you never know how that went down. But in his defense, I can tell you I met Wilt twice.
First time was on January 17, 1998, when he made his return to the University of Kansas (KU) after about a 40 year absence. He said during a halftime ceremony that he hadn't returned earlier because when his KU team lost to UNC by 1 point in triple OT in 1957 in the NCAA TITLE GAME, he said he felt he had let Jayhawk nation down. We all started yelling "No, No!" We gave him an enormous amount of love as they retired his jersey. He said, "Sometimes in life, you have to take the bitter with the sweet, and how sweet this is!" And when Wilt said, “Rock Chalk Jayhawk!” we cheered like you wouldn't believe. He later said it was the happiest day of his life, and he even cried!
After the game, Wilt stayed and signed autographs until everyone who wanted one got one. He signed a coffee table book for me, which I still have. When I got up to the table to meet him, I said, "Welcome home, Mr. Chamberlain!" He looked up at me, smiled, and said, "Thank you. It's great to be home."
Second time I met him at a sports show in Kansas just four months before he died in October, 1999, and got my picture taken with him. That was awesome, and he was so kind and friendly both times. While other stars charged for pics or wouldn’t let you take one, Wilt did it for free! I kneeled down beside him, and even put my arm around him and rested it on his shoulder. He gave the biggest smile ever. And a friend snapped the photo. He was incredibly nice.
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Great stories. I remember reading about that Kansas visit and how overwhelmed he was with emotion duding it. He started wearing a Kansas letterman jacket in some pics I saw after that. My best friend met Wilt in the 60s on campus at a small school in Kansas. Wilt offered an autograph but my friend said, “I could lose an autograph but I’ll never forget the memory of a handshake.” Wilt laughed and shook my friend’s hand. I’ve heard lots of wonderful stories, I guess I just feel jealous that I didn’t get the autograph when so many others did.
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Here’s a really nice story about Wilt Chamberlain and Phog Allen. So not too long after Wilt arrived on the KU campus all the way from Philadelphia, Wilt and some of his friends decided to go downtown on Massachusetts Street, commonly known as Mass Street, in Lawrence, Kansas to get some dinner. I don’t know what it was like back in 1954 when Wilt arrived, but today Mass Street is the most popular part of Lawrence for a night out on the town because there are a lot of restaurants and bars there.
Well apparently things didn’t work out quite as smoothly as planned. The next day, Phog Allen asked Wilt if he and his friends had a nice time downtown the previous evening. Wilt replied, “Not really, Coach.” “Why not?” asked Phog. Wilt replied, “Well when we tried to get service in a certain restaurant, the manager or owner said they didn’t allow black people to eat in their restaurant.”
Well that news really made Phog Allen, a man who probably could have been governor of Kansas if he had wanted it, mad. So Phog asked Wilt to come along with him and to go make a visit to that restaurant again. So Phog and Wilt entered the restaurant. And Phog went up to the owner who happily greeted the most popular (and powerful) man in Lawrence. Phog said, “You see this young man? Did he try to get service in your restaurant last night and you rudely turned him away?” The owner replied, “Well yes I told him we didn’t serve black people here.” So Phog said, “Well guess what? This young man, Wilt, is a very good friend of mine, and from now on you’re going to provide him and his friends, and black people in general, full service anytime he or they come in here. Understand?”
From that point on, Wilt Chamberlain said he never had a problem at that restaurant ever again. It makes me feel good about Phog Allen too.
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That’s wonderful. I have always thought that Wilt would have been a better player in the 80s onwards because he wouldn’t be stigmatized for his height. I mean Wilt the Stilt is an insulting nickname. He would be accepted and actually praised for his height and dominance from that period on instead of having to apologize for it. I am a huge basketball fan and historian of the game.
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I think that’s very true. There are people today, maybe not most, but some, who try to say Wilt was so dominant because of his height advantage, but that’s incorrect. Certainly, his height helped. But when he played in the NBA, there were several guys I believe who were about 6’10” or so. Wilt was 7’1”. So the height advantage was not actually that enormous. Wilt was dominant primarily because of unmatched athleticism, skill, and tenacity. Wilt was a remarkable athlete. He wasn’t just a basketball player as I’m sure you now. He was also an amazing track and field athlete too, along with later excelling in volleyball.
Being one of America’s all-time greatest athletes is what propelled Wilt, not height alone, not by a long shot. And as we all know, height alone cannot make you excel in basketball. Shawn Bradley was 7’6”. Now he really did tower over everyone else, far more than Wilt did. But did Bradley become a star? No, not at all. Bradley didn’t have the skill or athleticism of Wilt Chamberlain. Look at Yao-Ming. He was a good player, but not an enormous star like Wilt, and yet Yao was 7’6” as well I believe.
So no, it wasn’t all about height for Wilt Chamberlain...who holds by far the most NBA records of any player ever. I believe he has something like 76 NBA records. How about this? In 13 NBA seasons, Wilt never fouled out of a game! Wilt had about 125 games where he scored 50 or more points. Jordan is second all-time in that category with something like 28. And Wilt is the only NBA center to lead the NBA in assists for a single season! Pretty amazing stuff.
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