An Antiques Roadshow guest was left gobsmacked when he discovered that a pair of shoes his mum saved from the bin years ago were now worth a small fortune, despite their worn condition.
The bloke appeared on the PBS version of the show, which airs in the US, as the antique experts made their way through Chicago. He had brought along a pair of trainers that immediately caught the attention of one of the show’s stars.
Jasmani Francis, a local lad from Chicago, joined the guest as he presented a large pair of faded and scuffed basketball shoes, each adorned with Larry Bird’s signature on the heel. The guest revealed that his mother had nabbed this pair back in 1978 when the star was going to throw them away.
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(Image: PBS)
“My mum was watching the ISU basketball team practice when Larry Bird busted the tongue out of one of these trainers,” he explained. “He was about to chuck them away and my mum asked if she could have them. He said ‘Sure, I’ll sign them. They might be worth something someday’.”
Fast forward over four decades, and the guest was keen to find out just how much these shoes could fetch now that the 67 year old basketball legend, known as Larry the Legend in the NBA, is undoubtedly retired after reaching the pinnacle of his sport.
Jasmani couldn’t hide his excitement as he explained to the guest: “The issue a lot of people have with worn-out memorabilia is they think that it depreciates the value, that it’s not as desired. Not so, especially with shoes. You want them to show the kind of wear, the scuffing, he wore these!”
(Image: PBS)
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He admitted there are loads of signed shoes from Larry Bird out there, but said: “We don’t very often come across college. So when you brought these over I lit up a bit.”
Jasmani reckoned the sneakers, which he called “art for sports enthusiasts”, could fetch between £15,000 and £23,000. The gobsmacked guest was left speechless as Jasmani joked: “It does better in your house than it would’ve in the garbage at Indiana State University in 1978. Your mum did well.”
The guest added, sounding chuffed and surprised: “Definitely proud of her.”
* This article was crafted with the help of an AI tool, which speeds up Daily Star’s editorial research. An editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to starletters@dailystar.co.uk
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
