Growing up, Brian Carey was aware that his father’s uncle, Joe Lapchick, was a well-known basketball player and coach from the sport’s early days, but never gave it much thought.
His father had mentioned a jersey at some point, but Carey hadn’t seen it since he was a kid, and it was never displayed or framed.
If it wasn’t for a faulty pipe in his parent’s basement, which began leaking in late 2024, he probably would never have thought much of his great uncle, or the jersey, again.
But the leak forced Carey and his parents to take down a wall in their basement and place everything in storage while the room was repainted. While going through boxes in the storage room, Carey came across an ancient basketball jersey, featuring a white stripe across the front with a somewhat crude Celtics logo.
There was just a No. 7 and no name on the back, but Carey recalled his great uncle and the jersey that was given to his father.
It was a Lapchick jersey, likely over a century old, from his time playing for the Original Celtics, a barnstorming basketball team founded in 1914 with no relation to the Boston Celtics.
“This jersey is 100 years old,” Carey recalled thinking at the time. “You shouldn’t have it in a box in the storage room. It needs to be preserved.”
Carey started researching Lapchick on his laptop, showing photos to his father. In the process, he came across an auction listing from 2019.
Another Lapchick jersey, said to be from 1923-25, had sold for more than $150,000 at SCP Auctions.
“I watch American Pickers and Pawn Stars, so I had an idea there was some value to it,” Carey said. “But when I came across the auction price, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s incredible.’”
Carey was able to find photos of Lapchick online, including some from his time on the Original Celtics, but none showing he was No. 7. That’s when Carey found out that the players didn’t have assigned numbers — they would often wear different jerseys in each game.
Now that Carey is planning to sell the jersey this summer at SCP, which has placed a pre-sale estimate of $100,000 on the jersey, he has become more interested in his relative and has spent time researching Lapchick’s storied career.
It’s believed the Original Celtics won around 90% of their games during their two decades in operation while playing up to 200 games in a single year.
Lapchick, who coached the New York Knicks from 1947 to 1956, signed Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton to his first contract in 1950 — one of the first black athletes to play in the NBA. Lapchick was portrayed by Jeremy Piven in the 2023 “Sweetwater” biopic.
Carey hasn’t seen the movie yet, but plans to watch it with his father.
“I’m sure he’d love to see that.”
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.