Collection of Hoops Hall of Famer Red Holzman Heads to Auction Block

Items from the personal collection of the late Basketball Hall of Famer Red Holzman are headed to the auction block.

SCP Auctions will offer 36 items, including championship rings, game-worn jerseys and even the nets that were cut down after the only two championships won by the New York Knicks franchise in 1970 and ’73 when Holzman was their coach.

The items will be part of SCP’s Summer Premier Auction, set to open next week.

Holzman’s 1970 championship ring is the first from that legendary team ever to come to auction and is expected to bring $75,000-$100,000.

A graduate of CCNY, Holzman’s association with the NBA began in the 1940s as a player with the Rochester Royals.  He later became a coach for the St. Louis Hawks, then a scout for the Knicks.  A reluctant hire as the team’s head coach in 1967, he changed the culture and the addition of players like Dave DeBusschere and Earl Monroe to an already strong cast put the Knicks in position to be a perennial contender,

Holzman just the second coach to win 500 games and retired in 1982 with 696 career wins. He was voted to the elite Top 10 All-Time Coaches list as part of the NBA’s 50th Anniversary in 1996. His 613 wins with New York are the most in team history by a wide margin. A “613” banner is hung in the rafters at Madison Square Garden in his honor.  He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1986. 

Among the items from the collection that will be offered:

• 1970 NEW YORK KNICKS NBA WORLD CHAMPIONS 14K GOLD RING
• 1970 NBA FINALS GAME USED NET GIVEN TO HOLZMAN AFTER GAME 7 WIN AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
• 1951 ROCHESTER ROYALS NBA CHAMPIONS GOLD POCKET WATCH
• 1969-70 NBA COACH OF THE YEAR TROPHY AND AWARD CERTIFICATE
• 1996 NBA 50TH ANNIVERSARY JEFF HAMILTON LEATHER JACKET HONORING ONE OF THE 10 GREATEST COACHES OF ALL-TIME
• 1970 AND 1973 NEW YORK KNICKS WORLD CHAMPION CUFFLINKS (TWO PAIRS) MADE OF 18K GOLD & STERLING SILVER BY TIFFANY & CO.
• MAY 15, 1970 NEW YORK ‘KEY TO THE CITY’ PRESENTED TO RED HOLZMAN FROM NYC MAYOR JOHN V. LINDSAY
• 1973 NEW YORK KNICKS NBA WORLD CHAMPIONS 14K GOLD FOB/CHARM
• 1986 NAISMITH BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION 10K GOLD RING
• 1973 NBA FINALS GAME USED NET AFTER GAME 5 CLINCHER AT L.A. FORUM
• 1940-42 COLLEGE ALL-STAR GAME WORN BASKETBALL JERSEY

  

• 21, 1976 (KNICKS VS. JAZZ) 500TH CAREER WIN GAME BALL – BECAME 2ND NBA COACH TO REACH MILESTONE
• HUMIDOR CUSTOM MADE WITH MSG FLOOR PIECE FROM KNICKS 1970’S TITLE RUN – HAS CIGARS & ’57 ASG LIGHTER
• 1971 NBA ALL-STAR GAME 14K GOLD RING
• 1946-50 TRIO OF SIGNED ROCHESTER ROYALS (NBA/BAA) UNIFORM PLAYER CONTRACTS FOR SUCCESSIVE SEASONS
• 1970’S LOT OF 3 GAME USED COACH’S WHISTLES WITH TWO ATTRIBUTED TO 1970 AND 1973 NBA FINALS

Bidding Begins September 11 and runs through September 28 at SCPAuctions.com.

Related Stories:

Holzman’s 1970 NBA Championship Ring, Vin Scully’s 1st Contract Among Top SCP Sellers Spike Lee Bought Over 1/3 of Red Holzman Collection Items Pull Up a Chair and Check Out Vin Scully’s First Contract With Dodgers Magic Johnson Dream Team Gamer Expected to Bring Big Price King’s “Battle of the Sexes” Racquet Brings Record Price 1973: Topps’ Business Draws AP Attention Historic Jerseys, Holzman Collection, Vintage Cards Headline SCP Auctions Catalog Cheap Basketball Card Sets Past and Present eBay Card of the Day: Namath’s Rookie Shot in the Hospital Big, Sticky, Quirky: 1970s Topps Basketball Inserts Ran the Gamut

About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for more than 30 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected]