According to an article published by Courthouse News Service , Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is in a legal battle with auction house, Julien’s Auctions.

Mr. Jabbar is suing Julien’s for not returning items he owns. In the lawsuit Jabbar claims he signed a contract with Julien’s in 2012 agreeing to let them auction approximately 400 items . That agreement ran into trouble when Jabbar didn’t want to sell some of the items which had sentimental value to him. A legal battle ensued and Kareem’s LLC admits Julien’s was awarded monetary damages but now claims the auction house is holding his property “hostage” until Julien’s gets paid.

In 2009 singer, Michael Jackson also sued Julien’s Auctions to halt an auction of his belongings. Jackson originally hired Julien’s to auction over 2,000 items from his personal collection and in March of the same year,  filed a lawsuit against Julien’s to stop the sale saying he never authorized it. The auction was stopped and both parties worked out the issue amicably. Also of note, in 2012 Boxing champ Evander Holyfield sued Julien’s Auctions claiming they refused to return items from his collection of boxing memorabilia. I was unable to find the outcome of that lawsuit.

The items mentioned in the Jabbar lawsuit include 152 belongings Abdul-Jabbar wants returned, including gym apparel, clothing, art, awards, and other items.

From Courthouse News Service:

“Abdul-Jabbar claims that KAJ entered into a consignment agreement with Julien’s to auction 400 items but asked that six items not go on the block. Abdul-Jabbar says that those items were never handed over to the auction house. Julien’s took exception in an arbitration filing for breach of consignment agreement, according to the 9-page lawsuit. In June, a judge sided with Julien’s and awarded it damages. But the arbitrator found that the auctioneer is “‘not entitled to specific performance,'” according to the lawsuit.

 Thus, Julien’s is not permitted to move forward with an auction of any of the items consigned pursuant to the consignment agreement, including the property that unlawfully remains in Julien’s possession,” the complaint states.
 But despite multiple demands, Julien’s has refused to return the 152 items of memorabilia, Abdul-Jabbar says”.

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