Seattle University basketball legend Elgin Baylor has contracted with Julien's Auctions to sell 358 items of memorabilia from his extensive basketball career, including items obtained during Baylor's two seasons at Seattle U.
Among the Seattle U-related items available in the auction are: the 1958 Converse All-American Plaque he received after being named to the All-American Team, a pair of cufflinks given to Baylor at the ECAC Basketball Festival at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and a ring commemorating the run to the 1958 NCAA title game.
Baylor is not holding this auction because he needs the money. As he told Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, most of these items have been sitting in storage, and he feels that they would be appreciated more by his fans.
"I'm constantly getting calls from people interested in my stuff, and I finally thought, it's time," Baylor told Plaschke. "I've had some of these things for 60 years. It's time to share some of them with the fans who have been so wonderful to me. You're thinking there's something financial going on here, but it's not true. I have no financial problems at all. None of that. Seriously."
The online auction is currently taking place, with the live auction happening Friday, May 31, starting at 10 a.m. at the Beverly Hills headquarters of Julien's Auctions, located at 9665 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 150. Links to the auction as well as articles by Plaschke and Dave McKenna of Grantland accompany this article.