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Dan Hajducky
Jason Williams’ game-worn home white Sacramento Kings jersey from the lockout-shortened 1998-99 NBA season, Williams’ rookie year, has sold privately for $140,000. It’s the most spent on any Williams item.
Authentication and photo-matching company MeiGray, aided by a letter from Williams’ father, authenticated the jersey in December 2023 and matched it to more than half a dozen games from the 1998-99 season, including Williams’ first preseason game as a professional and Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round against the Utah Jazz.
«We have only photo-matched one white and one black game-worn Jason Williams rookie season jersey,» says MeiGray’s president and chief operating officer Barry Meisel. «This was still the era where players had one or two jerseys a season – and a rookie jersey is about as good as it gets in the game-worn hobby.»
MeiGray sold the jersey to an anonymous buyer represented by fine arts and collectibles advisory firm Curio Advisors, who count clients ranging from entrepreneurs and individual art collectors to financial funds and even «nation states» starting to wade into sports memorabilia investing.
«There are people out there who are really interested in the culture around Jason Williams,» says Curio Advisors founder and CEO Bradley Calleja. «He was top five in jersey sales his rookie year – everybody’s seen his highlight tape – but when it comes to his [game-worn] jerseys out there, there’s only a couple and this is the only white one that we’ve had.»
It’s the same jersey Williams wore while being shot for the cover of the August 1999 issue of SLAM, which David Schnur, president of SLAM Media, says is one of the most revered covers in the history of the magazine.
«Penny [Hardaway] and Shaw made the Magic jersey iconic, [Michael] Jordan and [Scottie] Pippen made the Bulls jersey iconic, Muggsy Bogues, Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning made the Hornets jersey ironic,» Schnur says. «Jason Williams did that for the Kings.»
