India, Nov. 6 -- A teenager rummaging through used clothing at a Goodwill Store in Oregon stumbled upon a yellow Los Angeles Lakers warm-up jacket priced at just $3.07. While this appeared to be an ordinary purchase from a thrift store, it turned out to be a basketball history collector's item. The jacket was found to belong to the great Wilt Chamberlain, who played for the Lakers during their 1972 NBA Finals victory over the New York Knicks.

Sotheby's auction catalog identifies the garment as a game-winning champion Lakers warm-up jacket from the 1972 finals. The auction house matched the short-sleeve yellow jacket to photographs from the three games during the 1972-73 regular season, Chamberlain's final NBA season. Listed in the auctio...