(LOT 101)
1957-'58 Topps #77 Bill Russell Rookie Card SGC 7.5 NM+
One of the hobby's most coveted rookie cards is the 1957 Topps #77 Bill Russell subject that is presented here in a magnificent SGC 7.5 NM+ holder. If you think finding an SGC high-grade Russell rookie is an easy chore then think again since only three other SGC examples have been fortunate enough to receive the 7.5 assessment with a meager nine examples graded higher! Synonymous with this card's championship caliber is Bill Russell's unparalleled resume that includes a miraculous 11 NBA Championships in his 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics.

Arguably the greatest "winner" in American sports history, Russell's uncanny success dated back to his college days at the University of San Francisco where he led his team to two consecutive NBA championships in 1955 and 1956. If that wasn't enough, before he graced the hard-wood court in Boston, he added an Olympic Gold Medal to his blossoming list of superlatives, leading the 1956 U.S. basketball team to an 89-55 clinching win over the Soviet Union in Melbourne, Australia. While choosing the finest NBA all-time player as the "best of the rest" is a seemingly impossible task, there are many historians who give Bill Russell this distinguished nod, based on his unparalleled winning legacy. He claimed five League MVPs and played in 12 All-Star games, and iconic coach John Wooden always claimed Russell was basketball's greatest defensive player.

Save for hockey great Henri Richard (who claimed 11 professional championships), no American athlete has ever enjoyed Bill Russell's unparalleled level of winning success; not Ruth, Mantle, DiMaggio, Gretzky, or even Michael Jordan, with Russell's legacy forever enshrined in Canton, Ohio. Regarding this sensational offering, the classic Russell pose donning his immortal white #6 Celtic jersey has stubbornly defied "father-time" by retaining a majority of its original surface attributes including brilliant surfaces, fine clarity and an array of robust hues. Of utmost significance, the background is ultra-clean, avoiding the standard surface snow stigma that plagues a myriad of Russell's rookie cards.

The image does somewhat favor the left edge, a typical off-positioning flaw seen on an abundance of Russell's inaugural Topps subjects. Fortunately, the near-perfect "top to bottom" centering, sharp right-angled corners, dazzling white borders, and clean verso more than offset the modest vertical centering issue, with this "blazer" stubbornly defying "Father-Time" over the past 65 years. A "blazer" to say the least, since 7.5 sales are few and far between, we will refer to a $229K PSA 8 sale in Memory Lane's Fall 2021 Auction as a bona fide testament for this card's esteemed hobby stature, with any high-grade Bill Russell rookie card worthy of the utmost compliments!
MIN BID $10,000
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