Presented is an opportunity to obtain a group of three scarce autographs from Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers: Maurice Stokes, Ward "Piggy" Lambert, and Walter "Little Doc" Meanwell. 1) Maurice Stokes - A 6'7" power forward and center, Stokes played in the NBA from 1955-58 with the Rochester/Cincinnati Royals. A tremendous all-around player, the 3-time All-Star was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1955-56. In his three NBA seasons, he had more rebounds (3,492) than any other player, and his 1,062 assists in his three seasons were second only to those of Bob Cousy. On March 12, 1958, Stokes hit his head on the floor during an NBA game and later developed post-traumatic encephalopathy, which paralyzed many of his muscles. His friend and teammate on the Cincinnati Royals, Jack Twyman, became Stokes' legal guardian and organized a series of annual summer basketball All-Star games at Kutsher's, a famous resort in the Catskills, to raise money for Stokes, who passed away at age 36 in 1970. The Stokes autograph is on a cut piece of paper or very thin cardstock measuring approx. 1.1x3.1". Stokes signed a neatly scripted autograph in pencil. The signed cut seems to have been repaired at a spot at the beginning of the signature. The cut signature has been encapsulated and PSA/DNA Certified as AUTHENTIC AUTO.

2) Piggy Lambert - Played his college basketball at Wabash College in Indiana, and he went on to coach basketball at Purdue University (1916-17 & 1918-46). He most likely derived his "Piggy" nickname from his time as a 5'6" guard at Wabash, when he led the team in scoring, and he was teased about "hogging" the ball, hence his "Piggy" moniker. At Purdue, Lambert had a 371-152 record, 11 Big Ten Conference titles, and the 1931-32 Helms Foundation National Basketball Championship. He coached Naismith Hall of Famer John Wooden at Purdue. Lambert went on to become the Commissioner of the National Basketball League. The Lambert signature is nicely scripted in blue fountain ink on a 3.25x5.5" index card. Lambert added an inscription, apparently in answer to a question about his best team at Purdue from the 1920s-30s, and in part, Lambert replied on the card, "1934-38 were the best balanced." The postcard has a January 29, 1946, postmark. The card shows some normal darkening. The offering has been encapsulated and PSA/DNA Certified as AUTHENTIC AUTO.

3) Walter "Little Doc" Meanwell. Formerly a basketball coach in England, Meanwell coached at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1911-17 & 1920-34) and Missouri (1918-20). Meanwell's "Little Doc" nickname came from the combination of his 5'6" height and his doctorate. His teams featured short passing and a zone defense, and his Wisconsin-Madison teams won the retroactive 1912, '14, and '16 Helms Foundation National Championships. Meanwell used fountain ink, and he signed and inscribed, "Walter E. Meanwell Coach of Bktball [sic] 1912 to 18/1921 to date/1933." The signature and inscription were written on approx. 3x5" paper, and two other pieces of paper, the same size, seem to be affixed under the signed piece. The offering exhibits some expected darkening. The signed postcard has been encapsulated and PSA/DNA Certified as AUTHENTIC AUTO.

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