Coach John Wooden’s teams played 150 home games on Pauley Pavilion’s original court. Only two of those games were losses. That court played host to the raising of several championship banners, the setting of many records and a basketball legacy unlikely to ever be repeated.
When the court was first changed in 1982, the center portion, where jump balls happen, was preserved and placed into storage, presumably because UCLA Athletics realized its sentimental and potentially financial value. That very jump circle, listed at SCP Auctions, is now up for sale by its anonymous owner.
In 1987, Jody Spillane, a UCLA alumna and employee, came across the jump circle while looking through a UCLA storage warehouse and ended up buying it from Athletics for a “nominal amount,” according to a UCLA Today story written in 1998. The original sale of the jump circle was the result of an unfortunate mix-up, said Marc Dellins, director of sports information.
The current sale of that jump circle has a portion of the proceeds dedicated to funding medical research, according to David Kohler, president of the auction house. This is an admirable endeavor, but this piece of Bruin memorabilia doesn’t deserve to be auctioned to the highest bidder. It should be displayed for Bruins and Bruin fans to appreciate.
Because most students are only on campus for four years, we as a student body often have trouble putting historical campus issues into perspective. At a school this size, important events and items often slip through the cracks.
There’s a Chaucer painting that could be one of the oldest known in the English Reading Room. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke on campus in 1965, and few students know the event even happened. Picasso dedicated a drawing to UCLA, and the original work’s whereabouts are unknown.
Students appreciate Wooden’s achievements and contributions to UCLA, but it’s saddening to know that we are watching the auction of a piece of our history.
Dellins is right. Ideally, the jump circle never would have been sold and instead could be housed in the Athletics Hall of Fame or in Pauley Pavilion itself. And to that end, Athletics should be commended for reaching out to the owner of the jump circle to work toward a deal on the center court returning to UCLA ownership, even though the efforts have been fruitless.
It’s clear that the center court belongs on campus, either in the Athletics Hall of Fame or in the lobby of the renovated Pauley Pavilion. By rebuffing Athletics’ requests for a deal, the owner seems to disregard the value of this piece to the campus community.
Athletics did its due diligence by contacting the owner. But at this point, there’s not much Athletics or the university can do.
Auction experts valued the court, which is signed by Wooden and many Bruin basketball greats, to be worth more than $1 million in 1998.
And after the death of Wooden, its value could only have shot up. It would be unimaginable for a public university to pay that amount for a display.
Whoever ends up buying the jump circle, hopefully another alumnus, should allow it to be displayed in the lobby of the renovated Pauley Pavilion. Wooden played eight of 10 championship seasons on that court and had his last home game there. It’s as much a piece of UCLA history as pretty much anything else we’ve got.
Dellins said that Athletics already has plans to display the current jump circle in the new Pauley after the court is changed.
If Athletics somehow ends up having both the original court and the current one available for display, neither should be placed in a warehouse.
They’re both part of basketball history that should not be stowed away, and they deserve to be displayed on campus for those who can admire Bruin basketball’s winning tradition.