Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has filed a lawsuit against memorabilia specialists Julien's Auctions over a Bruce Lee poster.
 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made a cameo in 70s film Game of Death, and is featured on the movie's poster |
The poster is one of 152 pieces of memorabilia that Abdul-Jabbar is trying to retrieve from the Los Angeles-based auction house.
Abdul-Jabbar originally agreed to sell 400 items from his personal collection through Julien's Auctions, but decided not to part with some of the memorabilia, causing the arrangement to fall through.
However, he says Julien's is now attempting to sell the collectibles he had consigned against his will. Among the items is a Bruce Lee-signed Game of Death poster, as well as a McDonald's "Top Faces of Black History" award and memorabilia from his basketball career.
"We recently prevailed in an arbitration against one of Mr Jabbar’s companies, KAJ Lifetime Retirement Collection LLC. That company, not Mr Jabbar, entered into a valid consignment agreement for the items at issue," the auction house told Paul Fraser Collectibles.
"The arbitrator found that the consignment agreement was valid. Julien’s Auctions vigorously disputes Mr Jabbar’s contentions. Julien’s Auctions is also pursuing claims against Mr. Jabbar’s business associate and her company."
There is no shortage of quality Kareem Abdul-Jabbar memorabilia on the market, with the former NBA star one of the most collectible of all time.
His most valuable items are those sporting his original name before he converted to Islam, Lew Alcindor, with a Milwaukee Bucks jersey selling at Heritage Auctions in 2013 for $95,600.
See our fantastic selection of sports memorabilia for sale.
