Dad Who Sold Game-Worn Jersey That Victor Wembanyama Gave to His Son in a Heartwarming Jersey Swap (for $73,200) is Now Trying to Cancel the Sale, Says His Son Wants The Jersey Back
When this story first went viral, I wanted to take the contrarian take on it. Everybody was killing this dad. His young child, clearly a colossal Victor Wembanyama fan based on the youth small #1 Spurs jersey he's wearing, had an incredibly wholesome and touching moment with the Victor Wembanyama himself on the court after a game. Being the diehard fan he is, Victor Wembanyama blessed him with his game worn jersey. Something that would certainly be that child's prized possession from now until the day he dies. He'd probably wear it on his death bed. He'd probably be buried in it someday.
That's what everyone automatically assumed. But part of me wondered if the whole thing was a work from the start. We don't know for sure that kid even knows what a basketball is. He might have no idea what sport he's watching. He could care less about sports. If you look at it from the perspective of, "a kid and his dad pulled the wool over a multi-millionaire athlete's eyes, someone they don't give two shits about, and tricked him into thinking they're his biggest fan so he'd give them his jersey and they could make tens of thousands of dollars for their family". Maybe even start a college fund for the kid... That in its own right could be a nice little father-son moment. And I'm not shedding any tears for Victor Wembanyama getting tricked after a game. Sure, the jersey could have gone to a kid who actually appreciated it, but a couple guys pulling one over on an athlete every now and then... whatever. There will be other jerseys. It's actually kinda funny when you think of it that way.
But allegedly, this dad, who completed the sale of Victor Wembanyama's game worn jersey on Goldin Auctions for $73,200 last weekend, is now having seller's remorse.
Earlier in the 2024-25 NBA season, a young fan went viral after San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama heartwarmingly agreed to swap jerseys with him following a road win against the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 27.
Despite the wholesome exchange between the 7'4" center and the five-year-old fan, the jersey was sent to auction a few days later, where it eventually sold for $73,200. Now, the father of the fan has reportedly taken legal action in order to halt the sale, according to cllct.
Frankie Desideri Sr. filed a request for a temporary restraining order against Goldin Auctions with the New York Supreme Court on Monday after reportedly feeling sellers remorse in the aftermath of the sale.
Immediately, I'm calling bullshit on this entire thing. I still think my theory about the kid not really caring about basketball might be right. I'm not super privy to the sports memorabilia market, or how the price of a game worn jersey fluctuates over time. But I can't help but wonder if as the auction neared an end, the dad thought to himself, "Fuck… I bet I can get more out of this than $73k".
That jersey got sold pretty quick. Victor Wembanyama is only in his second season. If you assume Wembanyama has a long healthy career (which is admittedly a bit of a risk for a player built like him who's already suffered one season ending injury) he could very possibly go down as one of the greatest NBA players in history. If Wembanyama goes on to shatter records, wins multiple championships, and revolutionizes the NBA with his one-of-a-kind skillset… what does a game worn jersey from his second year in the NBA go for then? Not to mention, I don't think that jersey ever even got signed. Would that add some more value? I'd assume so. I don't exactly know what the answers to these questions are, but I wonder if that's what this dad is thinking. It could be possible he already has another buyer. There could be someone out there ready to hand over $100k cash if he's able to unsell the jersey, and the dad could simply be using his son as bait (again) to have the sale cancelled. I also saw somebody speculate he tried to cancel the sale after Wembanyama's season ending injury, because somehow that would make the jersey go for more money? I don't really get why that would be… maybe if Wembanaya flames out and this is one of the few jerseys on the market, then the price could skyrocket?
Or maybe this kid really is crying to his dad every night because he knows his favorite player's game worn jersey was going out the door for a year's salary. But some reason, I just don't see it. Maybe I'm giving this dad/humanity way too much credit. But it's hard for me to imagine watching your son have a genuine moment like that with his favorite player, and so quickly put that jersey up for sale the second they got home from the game. Would a dad really do that???
Who the fuck am I kidding… Of course a dad would. On some level it's hard to blame him. Obviously I don't know what family's financial situation is, but for a lot people, passing up a quick and easy $73,200 would be insanity. Borderline impossible to do I'd imagine. It's not long-term life changing money or anything, but that is a huge amount for a lot people. There are plenty of potential problems a family can have that $73,200 could solve.
But again, if he had just kept the jersey… whether it's for his son or not… the value of the jersey is probably going to hold. He could still keep it on hand for a "sell in case of emergency" situation. Sorry for rambling. I'm just using this blog to talk myself through the situation. I'm trying to understand where this dad is coming from. In reality, it's probably an Occam's razor situation where the simplest answer is the correct one. The kid is a basketball fan. He had a sweet moment with his favorite player. His dad got greedy and sold the jersey, justifying it by saying his family needed the money. Then a combination of feeling bad for his son and being shamed by the internet got him to a place of trying to undo what he did.
Another part of this story is (if I'm understand this paragraph from the article correctly) it sounds like he's saying they tried to pull the jersey off auction immediately. Or at least sooner than a day before the jersey sold.
According to the request, after initially consenting to the sale of the jersey, the family made multiple attempts to take the item off the market after their son determined he wanted to keep it. They were unsuccessful in their attempts to withdraw the item from auction. Ken Goldin, CEO of Goldin Auctions, claimed he only received a request to withdraw the jersey from auction on Feb. 21, one day before the auction concluded.
The jersey, for which the auction concluded on Saturday, has reportedly already been paid for and shipped to the winner.
Could there possibly be a world where Ken Goldin, CEO of Goldin Auctions, be a shady character who ignored the family's initial request so he could make a quick buck???? Yeah I guess that seems pretty likely as well. The story would make a little more sense if the dad put the jersey up for sale, then instantly tried to pull it down after getting roasted by the internet, instead of waiting until February 21st. Apparently that's all being hashed out in court today, so hopefully we can get a little more clarity on that in the near future.
The morale of the story here is that if you're going to attempt to pawn off a piece of sports memorabilia given to your son in a heartwarming moment between him and player, you gotta give it some time before you throw it up for sale. The picture of his kid was still viral when the jersey was posted to Goldin Auctions. At least give the general public some time to forget about the picture. At least wait until the Spurs wear those jerseys again so it's no so blatantly obvious where it came from. No matter what the conclusion to this story is, the dad comes off looking like an idiot. If the kid really wants that jersey back like everyone initially assumed, I hope it finds its way back to him. Especially now that his dad is dumping more money into a lawsuit over it. By the end of this thing, the family is going to end up coming out in the red. The dad is spending money to try and get back a jersey he could have just kept in the first place. Unless, of course, this is all part of some grander scheme to keep this jersey in the news and drive up the price. I don't know how that would even make sense, but I can never help but assume there's more going on than what meets the eye.