Issue Date: May 6, 2007

Sports Collectibles

Experts list the top five most valuable "lost treasures" of hoops and hockey. Are any of these gems hidden in your attic?

You don't often think of a fruit basket as a highly sought item -- much less one that would fetch six figures on the open market. But, then again, in the world of sports memorabilia, anything's possible. In this case, the fruit basket launched the game of basketball -- but even though it belongs in a museum, no one seems to know where it is. And it's far from alone when it comes to the great lost treasures of basketball and hockey memorabilia. Now, with NBA and NHL playoffs just about to heat up, USA WEEKEND Magazine once again seeks out the long-lost holy grails of sports.

Last year, we spotlighted highly valued, missing items related to pro football and baseball's greatest moments. This week, an exclusive panel of experts from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., and the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto -- plus two of the top sports memorabilia companies in the United States, Lelands.com and Memorabilia Evaluation and Research Services (MEARS) -- ranked the greatest lost treasures for pro basketball and hockey, along with an estimate of their value. And if you have any idea where any of these items are, e-mail us at usaw@usaweekend.com. (Note that USA WEEKEND cannot help you get an estimate on the value of any sports items you have at home.)

5. The original peach basket ($100,000)
James Naismith invented basketball in 1891 in Springfield, Mass., with a simple peach basket. A gym teacher at a YMCA, Naismith wanted to promote agility rather than the brute force of football. One can only wonder what Naismith would think of his game now. When we asked the folks at the Hall of Fame in Springfield -- the sport's birthplace -- to give us their list of the game's lost treasures, Naismith's peach basket was ranked as No. 1. A few years ago, Josh Evans of Lelands spoke with members of the Naismith family in the hopes of tracking down one of the first peach baskets. Unfortunately, he came up empty-handed. "That near-miss still sticks with me," Evans says, "because the peach basket makes the sport unique."

4. "Havlicek stole the ball!" game ball ($150,000)

Do you have the ball that John Havlicek stole?

The 1965 Eastern Conference Finals proved to be a classic. Down by just one point, with Game 7 in Boston, the visiting Philadelphia 76ers had possession with only five seconds left in the game. Everyone expected the ball to go inside to Philadelphia center Wilt Chamberlain, but Boston's Bill Russell had him covered. The inbound pass was intended for star forward Chet Walker, but the Celtics' John Havlicek deflected the inbounds pass to teammate Sam Jones, who then dribbled off the remaining seconds. "Havlicek stole the ball!" roared Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most, providing one of the most famous calls ever in sports history.

Unfortunately, today, the ball is as elusive for sports memorabilia enthusiasts as it once was for the 76ers. Neither the Basketball Hall of Fame, nor the Celtics team has it. "The Havlicek ball is on the short list of things that we would love to find," says Matt Zeysing, the hall's archivist. "The Celtics are one of the sport's greatest dynasties."

3. The Zamboni that took center stage ($175,000)

Where's the three-wheeled Zamboni that was used at the 1960 Olympics?

Frank Zamboni didn't simply create an ice-resurfacing machine with his self-named invention; he created a unique, iconic vehicle that is as much a beloved tradition of hockey as infield grounds crew appearances are in baseball. Although it wasn't the first model, a three-wheeled Zamboni gained worldwide attention at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif. -- the first time Zamboni's creation ever cleared the ice during an Olympics. The three-wheeler was the Ferrari of Zamboni machines (models usually have four wheels), able to maneuver around the sharp corners of the hockey rink where the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team shocked the world by winning the gold medal. It's possible that the machine was dismantled, but if not, its value could eclipse that of standard Zambonis, which go for as little as $70,000. "After such a stunning international debut, Zamboni ice-resurfacing machines became the standard at the Winter Olympics," says Eric Dregni, author of Zamboni: The Coolest Machines on Ice.

2. Either of the first Stanley Cup champion jerseys from the Montreal AAA club ($400,000)
Not much remains from the first team to win the Cup, the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, in 1893. Photos from that era reveal that the team had only nine members. The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto has long sought an AAA jersey. "When we talk about lost treasures in hockey," says Miragh Addis, the hall's collections registrar, "this one immediately comes to mind."

1. Wilt Chamberlain 100-point ball ($500,000)

Chamberlain's 100-point ball is shrouded in mystery.

In 1962, Wilt Chamberlain did the unthinkable: He scored 100 points in an NBA game. Although the mark still stands today, not much else exists from the game itself. Only 4,124 people were in attendance. The game wasn't televised. No film of it exists, either. "The game is shrouded in myth and mystery," Chamberlain told ESPN decades later.

Chamberlain's game jersey is at the Hall of Fame. But what happened to the game ball is still in doubt. A ball eventually was auctioned off, however, its authenticity is in doubt. "I've probably had 10,000 people tell me they saw my 100-point game at Madison Square Garden," Chamberlain once said. "Well, the game was in Hershey, and there were about 4,000 there. But that's fine. I have memories of the game and so do they, and over the years, the memories get better."