Featured 1961 Fleer Basketball Cards

This is the only recognized rookie card of the most dominant basketball player to ever play the game. Who is the best player in basketball history? Well, some might say Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson but statistics don't lie. If you want pure dominance, dominance of "Ruthian" proportions, your choice has to be Wilt Chamberlain. At 7'1", 275 pounds, he simply dominated the smaller opposition. No one could stop him. Chamberlain was the only player in history to score 4,000 points in a season. He averaged 50.4 points per game during the 1961-62 season, holds the record for points in a single game with 100, the record for rebounds in a single game with 55 and he led the league in scoring for seven straight seasons. Furthermore, he led the league in rebounding in 11 of his 14 seasons and holds numerous other offensive records. This former NBA Rookie of the Year (1959-1960) was a four-time league MVP, and he led his team to six NBA Finals, winning two. Chamberlain was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978. This card is seen more often in high-grade than some of the other key rookies in the set, but it still falls subject to the same condition obstacles common to the issue.

Description courtesy of PSA website.

Jerry Alan West (May 28, 1938-) has been the heart and soul of the Los Angeles Lakers since 1960, as a player, coach and executive, guiding the franchise to its first NBA Championship after moving to LA in 1972 and the 7 of the 10 subsequent championships since his arrival after the 1960 NBA Draft. Jerry was a highly sought-after standout player from West Virginia, having a successful high school career and before becoming one of the best players in the country with the University of West Virginia. Leading the Mountaineers to the NCAA Final Four and eventual championship game, West was named the NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player despite losing the final game to California. West was made the second overall pick by the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1960 NBA Draft, shortly before the organization’s relocation to Los Angeles, making Jerry the first draft pick ever of a relocated franchise. Also in 1960, West co-captained the Olympic Basketball team with Oscar Robertson capturing the gold medal at the Rome Summer Olympiad.

Mr. Clutch, as Lakers announcer dubbed West, was named to his first of 14 NBA All-Star Games playing in twelve of fourteen All-Star Games during the span of his career (1960-1974). In 1972, Jerry was named the All-Star Game MVP during a season that he drove his Lakers to an NBA Championship where he also named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. Jerry was named to ten All-NBA First Teams and four All-Defensive NBA First Teams. In 1970, he was the NBA’s leading scorer from the free throw line as well as leading the NBA in points per game with a 31.2 average. Various injuries took their toll on West’s playing ability during the waning years of his career and combined with a bitter contract dispute with management, he was forced to retired after the 1973-74 season. West walked away as the leading scorer in Lakers history. He finished his career 25,192 points, 5,366 total rebound and 6,238 assists. Jerry West was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980. West was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. He coached the Lakers from 1976-1979 compiling a record of 145-101 before moving into the front office, taking over as the club’s general manager. West can be credited as the one of the architects of the 1980s Lakers Dynasty teams as well as the three-peating Lakers of 2000-2002. From 2002-2007, he served as the Memphis Grizzlies as a GM. One of the most visible contributions West provided to the NBA is that of his silhouette used to create the NBA’s longstanding and current logo.

Description courtesy of PSA website.

Oscar Palmer Robertson (November 24, 1938-) made an immediate impact in the NBA being awarded the 1961 NBA Rookie of the Year, is the only player in the history of the NBA to average a triple-double for an entire season, and honored for his collegiate career with the College Player of the Year Award being renamed the Oscar Robertson Trophy. Oscar attended the University of Cincinnati where he was an All-American, named the college Player of the Year and won the NCAA National Championship in each of his three seasons with the Bearcats. When he left Cincinnati, he held 14 NCAA records and 19 school records. In 1960, Robertson was a member of the gold medal winning basketball team in the Rome Olympic Summer Games with fellow Hall of Famers Jerry West, Jerry Lucas and Walt Bellamy. He was taken as the Number 1 overall (territorial) pick by the Cincinnati Royals in the 1960 NBA Draft where he played for 10 seasons (1960-1970) before being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks (1970-1974). With Cincinnati, The Big O, as he was called, led the league in assists six times, four times in free throws, twice in free throw percentage and in 1964 was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player.

After being traded to the Bucks, Robertson teamed with second year center, Kareem Abdul Jabbar to win the Bucks first and only NBA Championship over the Baltimore Bullets. Robertson was a 12-time NBA All-Star selection and thrice was named NBA All-Star Game MVP. He was named to nine All-NBA First Teams and two All-NBA Second Teams. Robertson, at 6’5” weighing in at 220 lbs., was the NBA’s first “big guard” as he revolutionized the position for players like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Oscar finished his career in 1974 with 26,710 points 7,804 total rebounds and 9,887 assists. In 1976, amidst the ABA-NBA merger, the Oscar Robertson suit was filed in court (named after the president of the Players Association) attacking the antitrust laws of the league and essentially creating free agency. Oscar Robertson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980. In 1996, The Big O was named to the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history list. He maintains the notion that even today, in his seventies, he could average a triple-double for an entire season.

Description courtesy of PSA website.

William Felton “Bill” Russell (February 12, 1934-) is arguably the greatest NBA player of all-time, having won two NCAA championships, a gold medal in the 1956 Olympics as captain of the U.S. National Basketball Team, and a record 11 National Basketball Associations titles with the Boston Celtics. (He shares the record for most championships by a professional player (11) with Henri Richard of the Montreal Canadiens.) Drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in 1956, Russell was highly coveted by Celtics coach Red Auerbach, who agreed to trade Ed McCauley and, reluctantly, Cliff Hagan to the Hawks for the rights to Russell on draft day. This trade remains one of the most important in NBA history. Bill made an immediate impact on the high-scoring Boston team, as well as the NBA, with a more defensive minded game and absolute dominance in the paint. His unorthodox manner of defending and man-to-man effectiveness, helped guide the Celts to their first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history, capturing the crown over the favored St. Louis Hawks. Russell was the key component on the court that led Boston to 11 titles in his 13-year career.

Playing alongside fellow Hall of Famers Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones and John Havlicek, the Celtics became the most feared team in the league. His matchups with other centers were legendary, but none more so than that with Wilt Chamberlain, who played ferociously against one another. Bill won five NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, was a five-time NBA Rebound Champion, was a 12-time NBA All-Star selection and was a three-time NBA All-NBA First Team player (though he was likely slighted on many occasions being named as an All-NBA Second Team player eight times). Bill Russell retired with 14,522 points, 21,620 total rebounds and 4,100 assists. He was also a prolific shot blocker, though the statistics for blocking shots was not kept until the 1973-74 season. Bill Russell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975. Russell was player/coach during his final three seasons with the Celtics, winning two championships, and coached for the Seattle Supersonics and the Sacramento Kings for five more seasons. He posted a 341-290 record in 631 games. In 1996, he was named to the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History list. In 2011, Russell received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama for his accomplishments during the Civil Right Movement both on and off the court.

Description courtesy of PSA website.

Elgin Gay Baylor (September 16, 1934-March 22, 2021) was the Number 1 overall pick, held by the Minneapolis Lakers, of the 1958 NBA Draft, the 1958-59 NBA Rookie of the Year and Lakers’ franchise savior guiding them from a last place finish in 1958 to the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics in his rookie season of 1959. And so began the most storied rivalry in NBA history. Having led the Seattle Chieftans to the NCAA championship game in 1958, Baylor was highly sought after for his basketball ability, but his struggles with academics nearly derailed any potential career on the court. Baylor was convinced to forego his final collegiate season at the University of Seattle to play for Minneapolis, virtually keeping the club from going bankrupt. Baylor averaged more than 34 points per game from 1960-1963, and in the 1962 NBA Finals, he set a scoring record when he dropped 61 in an NBA Finals game against Celtics while also grabbing 22 rebounds. Elgin was an 11-time All-Star game selection, was a ten-time All-NBA First Team player and an eight-time Western Conference champion. Baylor injured his knee during the 1963-64 season, and as his career progressed, nagging knee pain led to fewer and fewer games each season until he retired nine games into the 1971-72 season. Elgin Baylor retired after 13 seasons with the Lakers in Minneapolis and Los Angeles with 23,149 point, 11,463 total rebounds and 3,650 assists. In 1996, he was named to the NBA’s All-Time Fifty Greatest Player list. Elgin Baylor was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977. Baylor coached the New Orleans Jazz from 1974-1979 before becoming the Vice President of Operations for the Los Angeles Clippers for 22 years. In 2006, he was elected NBA Executive of the Year.

Description courtesy of PSA website.