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Lot # 854: 1988-89 Danny Ainge Game Worn Boston Celtics Warmup Jacket

Category: Basketball

Starting Bid: $500.00

Bids: 6 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Summer Classic 2022",
which ran from 8/28/2022 7:00 PM to
9/17/2022 10:00 PM



Danny Ainge was one of the rarest of athletes, a professional athlete in two sports. Displayed is his late 1980s Boston Celtics game worn classic pullover warm-up jersey. Ainge played 14 seasons in the NBA as a shooting guard, eight of those campaigns with the Boston Celtics, and he also played for Phoenix, Portland, and Sacramento. Ainge was an excellent shooter in college at Brigham Young University, and in his senior year, he won the John R. Wooden Award, given to the top collegiate player in the country. In his first practice with the Boston Celtics, his shot was off, so far off that Larry Bird wrote in Drive, his autobiography, that Ainge "shot 0-2,547." But that off target shooting didn't last, and Ainge became a valued member of the Celtics, sometimes starting, and at other times coming off the bench, and being a significant outside shooting force. He averaged 11.3 points in his years as a Celtic, and he helped the team to two NBA Championships. Ainge made the Major Leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays while he was still in college at Brigham Young University. He hit .220 in his MLB career, and he is the second youngest player in Blue Jays history to hit a home run, at 20 years and 77 days. Only star slugger Vlad Guerrero Jr. did it younger. Ainge is in a small group of only 13 athletes who have played in both the NBA and Major League Baseball, a few of whom are Gene Conley, Dick Groat, Dave DeBusschere, Cotton Nash, Ron Reed, and The Rifleman TV series star, actor Chuck Connors. The warm-up jersey shows great wear with some discoloration, and it is in overall excellent condition. It has "CELTICS" in green letters with gold trim on the chest. The NBA logo is on the upper right chest. Each sleeve features the classic green Celtic shamrock, trimmed in gold. The back of the warm-up has a green nameplate with "AINGE" in white block letters. The neck has a MacGregor manufacturer's tag that shows the size at 44. An adjacent tag reads "Designed and tailored exclusively for BOSTON CELTICS". Next to that tag is another tag that gives the correct year as 88. The Boston Celtic franchise has 17 NBA Championships, more than any team has one in one city. The combination of the warmup jersey being worn by a rare two-sport star who played for the iconic Boston Celtics makes this jersey a fascinating addition to any sports collection. The jersey comes with a Letter of Opinion from Heritage Auctions that the jersey is genuine and was worn by Danny Ainge during the 1988-89 NBA season.

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