Sports Memorabilia Record at Auction.

Rules of Basketball

Sotehby's recently set a record for sports memorabilia at auction with the sale of basketball rules written by James Naismith who is credited with setting the modern day rules for the game.  The record price was $4.4 million and more than doubles the price paid at auction for sports memorabilia.  The buyer was an alum of the University of Kansas where Naismith was the first physical education professor and coach of the varsity basketball and track teams.

Bloomberg reports on the sale

The rules for the game of basketball, invented by James Naismith when he was a physical-education teacher in Springfield, Massachusetts, fetched $4.4 million, more than double the $2 million presale estimate and a record for sports memorabilia at auction.

The buyer was David G. Booth, an alumnus of the University of Kansas and chairman and co-chief executive officer of Dimensional Fund Advisors Inc. Naismith was the university’s first professor of physical education and varsity coach for basketball and track and field.

The document was sold by his heirs to benefit the Naismith International Basketball Foundation. The sport’s first game was played with soccer balls and peach baskets, according to Sotheby’s.

To read the Bloomberg article, click HERE.