Expert: Alessandro - 6/4/2002

Question
I have a ball signed by several people from the late 60's Celtics, I was wondering if you would be able to tell me the exact year(s) that all these players played together.  I have a hard time making out the names of all of them but here is my best guess:

Sam Jones
Wayne Emory
Jim Barnett
Red Averback
KC Jones
Don Nelson
Bill Rusell
Jody Kimball <---- really not sure on this one
Baily Howell
Tom “Satch” Sanders
John Havlicek
Ronny Water
Lary Singfried

I'm sure I spelled many of their names wrong.  Also if you have any suggestions on how I can find out the value of this ball I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you
-Drew-


Answer
I think I can help you out here ... First, let's see what the true spelling of some of these names are :

Sam Jones (correct)
Wayne Emory (it's actually "Wayne Embry")
Jim Barnett (correct)
Red Averback (that's coach Arnold "Red" Auerbach)
KC Jones (correct)
Don Nelson (correct)
Bill Rusell (that's "Russell" with two "s"'s)
Jody Kimball (that's "Toby Kimball", but still close)
Baily Howell (it's "Bailey" with an "e")
Tom “Satch” Sanders (correct)
John Havlicek (correct)
Ronny Water (I'm going to assume this is "Ron Watts")
Lary Singfried (that's "Larry Siegfried")

So, judging by this roster, I would have to say that this ball was signed during the 1966-67 season ... That was the only year that Watts and Barnett played for the Celtics, while everyone else falls within that time period, so I can say with a fair amount of certainty that this is indeed the correct year.

As for the value of the basketball itself, I suggest making a search on eBay under "Basketball Memorabilia"

http://listings.ebay.com/aw/plistings/list/all/category2849/index.html

and seeing what people are charging for signed balls from that era ... Or, you could always seek out a local (and honest) sports collectible store and have them give you an appraisal.

Hope that helps,

Alessandro
alessan420@hotmail.com
http://pub61.ezboard.com/bthemeangreen