This Wendell Ladner basketball card is number 226 in a series of 264 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1972-1973 American Basketball Association (ABA) season. The front of the card features a posed picture of the Memphis Tams forward on a yellow background. The card’s reverse features a small cartoon image illustrating the factoid that “Wendell is a tiger on the court,” as well as a short biography and career statistics.
Wendell played in the ABA from 1970-1975, playing for the Memphis Pros, Carolina Cougars, Memphis Tams, Kentucky Colonels, and New York Nets. Wendell won an ABA championship playing for the New York Nets in the 1973-74 season. Ladner was also named a two-time ABA All-Star and was selected to the All-Rookie Team in 1971. Tragically, Ladner died in a commercial plane crash on June 24, 1975, just outside New York City. Ladner's body was identified in the wreckage due to the ABA championship ring worn on his finger.
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