Teenager Buys a Jacket for $3 and Makes a Fortune

Here's what it's all about

• A tracksuit belonging to basketball icon Wilt Chamberlain was auctioned off in the U.S.
• The auction brought in about 72,000 francs for a teenager.
• He himself had paid $3 for the jacket.

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In the U.S., a tracksuit jacket belonging to basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain sold for $89,000. The curious thing about it: Just recently, it was sitting in a clothing donation bin at a thrift store and was purchased by a teenager for $3.07. It was only later that it came to light that Chamberlain—the NBA record-holder who died in 1999—had worn this very same short-sleeved jacket during the 1972 Finals.

"It doesn't get any better than this," said the lucky finder, Quinn Brown, who sold the garment through Sotheby's auction house, according to the AP news agency. $89,000 is equivalent to just under 72,000 euros.

Chamberlain Holds NBA Record

Chamberlain was a star in the NBA during the 1960s and early 1970s and is still considered one of the most dominant players in league history. In 1962, he scored 100 points in a single game—a feat no other NBA player has ever achieved. With a total of 31,419 points, he ranks eighth on the all-time scoring list.

The 2.16 basketball player won two championships: the first in 1967 with the Philadelphia 76ers, and the second in 1972 with the Los Angeles Lakers. The training jacket that has now surfaced dates back to the Finals series of that season, during which Chamberlain was also named Most Valuable Player.

However, the estimated value was not reached at auction

Quinn Brown said that in January, at a thrift store outside Oregon City, he noticed someone tossing the Lakers jacket with Chamberlain's name on it back onto a pile. The young man resells used clothing online and snapped it up immediately.

After initially researching the matter himself and determining that the jacket was genuine, he later received confirmation from Sotheby's. The auction house estimated its value at $150,000 to $250,000—but it didn't fetch that much by the time the auction ended on Monday.

Back in 2023, Sotheby's had already auctioned off a Chamberlain jersey from that 1972 Finals series against the New York Knicks—for $4.9 million.