The great Bob Lanier dominated the lane during his 14-year Hall of Fame most notably for the Detroit Pistons with whom he spent his first 9 1/2 seasons. He is basketball royalty in Detroit having had his number 15 retired. The 6'10" 250 lb. center was a double-double machine averaging 22.6 points and 11.8 rebounds as a Piston. Offered here is rare warm-up jacket game-worn by Lanier during the latter part of his tenure in Detroit. The "lightning bolt" style is extremely scarce in the hobby as the Pistons only donned this on their jerseys and warm-ups from 1978-81 beginning with Dick Vitale's brief coaching tenure. The light gray Medalist Sand-Knit button-up jacket comes with a hoodie and is rather bulky for its era and purpose. The unique design features "PISTONS" in red-on-gray-and-blue tackle twill embroidered across the chest with a lightning bolt in blue-on-gray-and-red tackle twill just below it. The blue sleeves have a lightning bolt in red tackle twill over a gray background. "Bob Lanier" in red stitching is sewn on back in beautiful cursive lettering completing its fresh retro look. Medalist Sand-Knit tagging is found inside the shirttail with "Designed & Tailored for the DETROIT PISTONS" size "46" and washing instructions. The jacket shows excellent wear with some pilling and a few small holes in the fabric along with minor soiling. There has been a name change on the back which was common during that era as team budgets were limited. The jacket has interesting provenance. Sometime after Lanier was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks midway through the 1979-80 season the Pistons returned the jacket to EastSide Team Sports the team's local uniform supplier for the past 45 years. The owner Gerry Phillips sold it to the consignor a few years ago. Awesome game-worn piece from a basketball legend.Includes Letter of Provenance from collector Bruce Tennen.

A Michigan native Bruce Tennen began his sports business career in the late 1970's covering Arizona teams as an AP journalist. He spent the early 80's working in the front office for the San Diego Clippers before eventually settling down near his hometown of Detroit and building a successful career in financial services. Bruce has facilitated credit and acquisition funding for numerous Detroit Pistons players and executives. These unique experiences and connections have allowed him to build an impressive memorabilia collection. Part 1 of the Bruce Tennen Collection was featured in SCP's 2014 Fall Premier Auction and included an impressive early 1970's Detroit Tigers jersey collection.