The New York Times’ Liz Robbins writes this morning about the Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas and what sounds like an exhaustive collection of signed, game-used jerseys from his NBA peers and other all-time greats.
Spending countless hours participating anonymously in online auctions, e-mailing prospective sellers and reaching out to the league’s player network, Arenas has collected 262 jerseys ” from Bob Cousy to George Mikan, from Ron Artest to Zeljko Rebraca. (It was a gift.)
But why? It is a question Arenas often hears.
“I’m going to build a gym, with an all-glass mirrored floor and walls,” Arenas said this week. “In the glass, it will be all jerseys, every player I came in contact with. When I finish my career, my jersey will be the last jersey I’ll put in there.”
“I got Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan’s away high school uniform, the one that says Bucs on it,” he said. “Pete Maravich is the hardest one, I can’t find that one. I got Shawn Kemp’s rookie jersey, Penny Hardaway’s McDonald’s all-American jersey, Jason Kidd’s high school jersey.”
Robbins’ piece is illustrated with the above photo, one that brings the following question to mind — what’s the story behind the Chick Hearn microphone jersey?