NBA icon Kareem Abdul Jabbar once showed up on 'Pawn Stars' to verify his own memorabilia
Guitars and sports memorabilia are some of several items on "Pawn Stars" that are linked to famous artists and sporting personalities. To verify if they are real, celebrities themselves are called in. When NBA legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar showed up to authenticate his memorabilia, even the pawn shop boss, Rick Harrison, was shocked. Eventually, he gathered his thoughts to finally make a deal for one of his personal items worth $25,000.
Harrison flew down to Philadelphia to check out a collection of Jabbar's sports memorabilia that was set to go on auction. "I'm headed out towards New Jersey to go look at this stuff. It's a once-in-a-lifetime deal if I can get to buy some of this stuff before the auction," Harrison remarked. At the venue, Harrison was greeted by the curator of the collection, Ken. He presented the collection to the pawn shop boss, the incredible collection that included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's official NBA Most Valuable Player award of Jabbar that he won in 1975-76. "He led the league with 17 rebounds a game and had one of his best-ever seasons and this was his first season with the Lakers," Ken explained.
He then showed the 'personal goggles' belonging to Jabbar that he wore during games to protect his eyes. "Kareem himself had only two pairs," Ken claimed. Harrison too geeked out, saying that Jabbar won the glasses because he was so tall, and when people went up the block, they would poke him in the eye.
The next item in the collection was Jabbar's '1979 All-Star Game Jersey that came directly from the legend. "You can even see the dirt from the playing use," Ken claimed. However, the curator saved the best for last as he brought out the Holy Grail of the collection from the locker. "This is the 1987-88 Los Angeles Lakers ring presented to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar," Ken said, bringing out the item. "It's a back-to-back ring, and it is the final championship that he won in his NBA career," he added.
Coming to the price, Ken told Harrison that the trophy was up for $300,00, the jersey was up for $125,000, and the ring was expected to go for $375,000. While Harrison was extremely excited to see the collection, he asked if he could come back the next day with his sports guy to try and buy some of the items.
The next day, Harrison returned with Dan, his sports guy, but it was Ken who had a surprise in store. Ken brought out none other than the legend himself to co-authenticate the items alongside Dan. "I thought that you might like to meet the man himself," Ken said. Harrison, who was stunned, quickly snapped out of the shock and shook hands with the legend.
He added that if Harrison made a deal for some of the items, he would go to the Lakers game with him. "I think we need to buy something because that wasn't on the bucket list till now," Harrison said. After Dan told him they could be worth between $20,000 to $30,000, Harrison got down to negotiating.
After some back and forth, Ken made his final offer of $25,000 and the tickets to go with Jabbar to a Lakers game, which Harrison accepted.
