This Wally Anderzunas basketball card is number 21 in a series of 175 that was manufactured by the Topps Company Inc. for the 1970-1971 National Basketball Association season. The card is longer than standard cards, measuring 2½ inches by 4 ¾ inches. The front of the card features a posed picture of the Cincinnati Royals forward on a green background. The card’s reverse features a small cartoon image illustrating the factoid that “As a youngster Wally dreamt of playing pro basketball,” as well as a short biography and career statistics. Anderzunas did not end up playing in the 1970-1971 season, only playing the 1969-1979 year in the NBA.
It is apparent Anderzunas is wearing his jersey backwards on this card, which looks strange compared to modern cards but was common in basketball cards until the early 1970s. It is believed that the player’s would forfeit their fee to the team if the team name appeared so many players wore their jerseys backwards, wore their warm-ups, or posed in such a way to obscure the team name.
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