Add The California Post on Google A 19-year-old thrift shopper could be in line for a massive payday after buying what turned out to be a warm-up jacket worn by late basketball icon Wilt Chamberlain for just $3.07 at a Goodwill store.
The rare piece is now up for auction through Sotheby’s, where it is expected to fetch between $150,000 and $250,000 after being authenticated as a jacket worn by the Los Angeles Lakers great during the 1972 NBA Finals and throughout the 1972-73 season — his final season in the league.
Portland resident Quinn Brown stumbled across the gold-and-purple jacket during a January visit to a Goodwill Outlet store in Hillsboro after another shopper briefly picked it up before putting it back, according to WLBT3.
“He just threw it in front of me, and I immediately grabbed it,” Brown told the outlet.
Brown said he paid just $3.07 for the jacket and suspected it might be something special, prompting him to post a photo of it on Instagram.
The image caught the attention of Sotheby’s, which arranged for the jacket to be shipped to New York for authentication through SIA Photo Match.
“They said your jacket has been matched to the 1972 NBA Finals. I knew the NBA Finals jersey sold for $4.9 million. That’s the jersey he wore under my jacket,” Brown explained.
Sotheby’s said the jacket was also photo-matched to images of Chamberlain wearing it during the 1972-73 NBA season.
Brown began reselling thrifted items while he was a high school junior and has since turned the hobby into a full-time business, completing more than 10,000 sales over the past three years.
He said he still spends between 15 and 20 hours each week searching through Goodwill Outlet bins in hopes of uncovering another hidden gem.
“I got so lucky with my Wilt Chamberlain jacket, and it’s an amazing feeling to find something like this. I was just doing this because I enjoy it, never expecting anything like that,” Brown said.
“I am a Lakers fan. I have a Wilt Chamberlain book on my dresser, a Wilt Chamberlain card that was a gift from my friend, and I’m hoping to find some vintage Wilt Chamberlain shirts to wear,” he said.
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Brown said he plans to save the proceeds from the sale and hopes the windfall will eventually allow him to retire early.
Hayley Platt, public relations manager for Goodwill Industries, explained, “Quinn’s story is the perfect example of how hunting for treasures at Goodwill is thrilling and, in this instance, just magical.
Bidding opened Wednesday and is scheduled to run through July 20.
