The ABA’s Spirits of St. Louis might well have been named the "Free Spirits" of St. Louis; this was a unique unpredictable team blessed with a wealth of young talent. The Spirits were born in the summer of 1974 after the owners of the Carolina Cougars sold the franchise to several New York businessmen. The new owners promptly moved the team to St. Louis. The new logo was clever and the Spirits' uniforms were classy. The Spirits played their home games in the 18000 seat St. Louis Arena (also known as the "Checkerdome"). M.L. Carr played for the Spirits of St. Louis in the ABA during the 1975-76 season and earned a place on the All-Rookie team. Following the 1976 NBA-ABA merger Carr became a member of the Detroit Pistons. He stayed in Motown for three seasons before being traded to the Boston Celtics in 1979 where he finished out his career. He later became General Manager of the Celtics in 1994 and coached the team from 1995 to ‘97.

This lot features Carr’s 1975-76 Spirits of St. Louis  game-worn home jersey from his rookie season an incredibly rare find. On the right front tail of Carr’s Spirits of St. Louis jersey is the proper “Rawlings” manufacturer’s tag with washing instructions and jersey size “44.” Across the front is positioned the team name “Spirits St. Louis” while his uniform number “30” appears on both the front and back all in orange tackle twill outlined in black. His last name “CARR” appears across the back sewn directly onto the shirt in orange tackle twill outlined in black. The jersey shows solid game-use appears to have no alterations of any kind andremains in superb all-original condition.