In this provided photo taken in January 2026 at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland, Quinn Brown poses with a warm-up jacket worn by basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain during the 1972 NBA Finals. The jacket, which Brown found and bought for $3 at the Goodwill store in Hillsboro, is expected to fetch as much as $250,000 at auction.
Courtesy of Heath Silver
A 19-year-old from Portland scored a piece of sports history while digging through bins at an area Goodwill.
A gold jacket with some loose stitching and light stains he purchased for about $3, turned out to be a warm-up jacket worn by basketball great Wilt Chamberlain in the 1972-1973 NBA season. The jacket is now up for sale on Sotheby’s, an auction site for fine arts and collectables, where it is estimated to sell for between $150,000 and $250,000.
Quinn Brown, a Lincoln High School graduate, says he started reselling thrifted clothes while in high school after his twin sister introduced him to bins of clothes at Goodwill. Until recently, his biggest sale was a 90s-era T-shirt that netted him $250.
Brown told OPB’s Think Out Loud that he found the jacket in June after waiting in line with other buyers outside of Goodwill.
He says another person initially spotted Chamberlin’s jacket, but tossed it aside. Brown immediately picked up the jacket. He didn’t know its exact value, but knew enough about sports memorabilia to realize it was an item worth grabbing.
“I got home, and I kind of did my own research, and before posting or anything, I realized pretty quickly that I probably have Wilt Chamberlain’s jacket here,” Brown said.
FILE - In this April 30, 1972, file photo, Los Angeles Lakers' Wilt Chamberlain (13) fires a leaping scoop shot against the New York Knicks in an NBA Finals basketball game in Los Angeles.
AP Photo / File
Through photomatching, Brown was able to match the jacket to one Chamberlain wore in the NBA Finals, which was later verified by Sotheby’s.
“It was just a photo with circling small details that matched up perfectly,” Brown said.
He initially posted the jacket on his Instagram, where it was reposted by other collectors – and that’s how Sotheby’s finally caught wind of his incredible find.
What started as a way to find cool clothes in high school has now turned into a source of income for Brown. He goes to Goodwill three to four times a week and posts about 30 items a day to be resold. Brown said he doesn’t see reselling as competitive and has made friends with other buyers looking to score big in the booming used clothes and collectables market.
As for the person who initially passed on Chamberlain’s jacket, Brown says he feels very guilty, but that’s how it goes in the resell world.
“I’ve made the same mistake with different items - not to that scale - but I’ll throw back something that I realize is worth a few hundred dollars after,” he told OPB. “That’s just how it is.”
The auction for Chamberlain’s jacket is listed to close on July 20, 2026.
