This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/2/2022
Rare Official Rawlings ABA Dave DeBusschere basketball displays the classic red, white, and blue ABA colors, which helped to set this flashier league apart from its older and more established counterpart, the NBA, which used orange balls. These vintage “Rawlings RSS Official” Red White and Blue paneled “ABA Dave DeBusschere COMMISSIONER” basketballs have become very difficult to obtain. The ABA was a fledgling league that tried vehemently to compete with the NBA but their distribution and budget were far inferior to that of the NBA which means that very few of these original specimens exist today. DeBusschere was an excellent athlete who played in both in the NBA as well as Major League baseball. The NBA named him as one of the Top 50 players ever in 1996. In 1975, the ABA was on the verge of folding and needed to bring in a “Household” name much like the owners did during the first year in the ABA by naming George Mikan commissioner. DeBusschere seemed like a logical choice with his brilliant mind and his savvy business skills; he would become their last commissioner before the league would merge with the NBA.