After several minutes of intense bidding, the two-page document comprising a set of 13 rules to a new game invented by James Naismith in 1891 sold for $4,338,500, more than double the pre-sale estimate of $2 million and a new record for any piece of sports memorabilia ever sold at auction.

James Naismith’s Founding Rules of Basketball were purchased by David and Suzanne Booth, who hope to bring them to the University of Kansas.

Booth is an alumnus of the University of Kansas and he and his wife were inspired to bid by lifelong Kansas basketball fan Josh Swade. Over the course of the past few weeks, Swade embarked on a mission to find the right person to help him return the Rules to Kansas, where Naismith spent the last 41 years of his life and is buried.

Naismith brought basketball to Kansas in 1898. He mentored the great Forrest “Phog” Allen, who in turn mentored Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith.

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Sports Collectors Daily
Dec. 10, 2010