Wednesday, December 12, 2012

David Thompson auction results are now final

This ring, which David Thompson received after N.C. State won the 1974 national basketball championship, sold for more than $44,000. (Photo courtesy of SCP Auctions)

N.C. State basketball legend David Thompson netted about $164,000 recently by auctioning off a lot of the basketball memorabilia he had collected over his hall of fame career.

I wrote originally about this in late November. In our interview for that story, the 58-year-old Thompson said he was selling some (but not all) of the stuff he collected through his dazzling basketball career because that while he “isn’t broke by any means” that he wasn’t particularly nostalgic and that most of his memorabilia was gathering dust.

And the money wouldn’t hurt, either, he acknowledged.

“Everybody needs money,” said Thompson, who makes his living these days with occasional motivational speeches and personal appearances. “Everybody has bills. A lot of the guys from my generation have done this, and I just felt like the time was right.”

A number of readers asked for me to follow up and publish the results of the auction once it closed. So here are the highlights:

Of the 49 items Thompson put up for sale through SCPAuctions.com, a California-based company, 45 received the minimum bid and were sold. The only four that did not sell were all relatively minor trophies or plaques.

Six of Thompson’s items sold for in excess of $10,000 (that includes the 20 percent “buyers’ premium” that bidders had to pay to purchase any item and that went to SCP -- so DT actually received 80 percent of each price listed below). The six five-figure items were, in order of price:

1. His 1974 N.C. State national championship ring for $44,427.

2. His 1996 hall of fame induction trophy for $27, 971.

3. The game net from the 1974 N.C. State-Marquette national championship game for $17,365.

4. His 1976 ABA all-star basketball signed by numerous ABA greats for $13,045.

5. His hall of fame circular bust for $10,237.

6. The Crest (N.C.) high school jersey (pictured below) that he wore for three straight years for $10,038.

Thompson was not a national headline-grabber in the November auction, which featured about 2,000 items altogether from various sports greats. Ozzie Smith’s 13 Gold Glove awards from 1980-92 – sold in a group – went for a whopping $519,203. Babe Ruth’s 1922 team sweater went for $250,642. Oscar Robertson’s 1963-64 NBA MVP award sold for $177,632 and Paul Hornung’s Heisman Trophy sold for $173,102.

It is unclear who bought what, because the buyers in such auctions are granted anonymity unless they voluntarily come forward. Thompson said in our November interview he hoped some of the buyers would ultimately donate what they purchased to N.C. State’s newly established athletic hall of fame. He also said he planned to donate some of the money he earned from the sale to charity.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for following up, Scott. Very interesting.

A. Cook said...

He would of been better off using eBay, and placing an add in the News & Observer.

Anonymous said...

Go state! We have the most tradition of any program in the state and probably the region. We've won 2 NCAA titles ad have beaten unc 5 times in a row in football. I think most would agree that Thompson is better than Jordan. Gottfried is the next Jimmy V!! The future is so bright for us. Debbie Yow will destroy unc. I wish I could have gotten DT's ring! Go Pack!

Anonymous said...

You think?

Unknown said...

Maryland got raped that year. Six NBA draft picks on the team, ranked number three in the country....and couldn't go to the NCAA tourney because only the ACC tourney winner could go. NC State beat the Terps in what is widely considered the greatest college game of all time. Then, the Terps had to sit and watch State rifle through the NCAA tourney and win it. Terps shoulda been there. A rematch would've been great.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous...what are you smoking...?

If NC State and it it's Alumni would focus more on attaining athletic goals and achievements their program would advance closer to their expectations - they act like the red-headed step child to UNC and focus all their energy to the utter hate of anything light blue, they miss the big picture of why other schools have continued to surpass them in overall results and achievement. Lose the inferiority complex and you might go places.

How did that last Football hire work out for you big Red?