It’s a swap gone wrong in San Antonio as one NBA dad seeks the reversal of a sale involving a game-worn Victor Wembanyama No. 1 jersey. According to a report by Front Office Sports, the jersey sold for $73,000 at auction, but the seller now wants it back despite being shipped to the winning bidder.
“The game-worn Victor Wembanyama jersey from the infamous jersey swap with a young fan sold at auction over the weekend for $73,200. Frankie Desideri Sr. filed a petition Monday in Westchester County against Goldin Auctions to stop the sale and transfer of a “minor’s item worth over $60,000.”
The jersey came straight from Wembanyama himself back in December of 2024, when he exchanged it with a lucky young fan in the stands. It was only a few weeks later that Victor’s jersey was up for auction, available to the highest bidder.
The child’s father, Frankie Desideri Sr., is presumably the one who put the jersey up for auction, but he released a statement after allegedly trying to revoke his permission several times before the sale.
“[Desideri] initially consented to auctioning his minor son’s jersey but lawfully revoked that consent before the auction’s conclusion,” the petition reads. “Despite this revocation, [Goldin] proceeded with the sale, violating [Desideri’s] rights as a guardian and disregarding contractual principles. Moreover, [Goldin] used [Desideri’s] and his son’s images in promotional materials despite clear, prior instructions that no images were to be attached to the sale.”
As arguably the best center in the league and a future face of the NBA, Victor Wembanyama (21) carries a lot of weight in the world of sports and the Desideri knew they could make a small fortune by selling his game-worn jersey at auction. What they didn’t realize was how much they’d want it back after giving it away.
Goldin Auctions is now being sued to halt the sale and return the item in question, but they don’t seem to be backing down. In a statement of their own, they condemned Desideri’s actions as buyer’s remorse and suggested that they would take no further action against his claims.
We don’t know for sure why the seller decided to reverse his course, but he may believe it’s worth more than he made. For starters, Victor’s debut jersey with the Spurs sold for a much higher price back in 2023: roughly $762,000.
Today, you could argue that Victor is even more valuable as a player. As one of the NBA’s top young athletes, Victor Wembanyama’s name is world-renowned and he’s the next in line to become the face of the league.
After suffering from blood clots this year, however, Victor will not play this season and there are concerns that he may never be the same. If that’s true, Wemby’s jersey from this period of his career may become much more valuable down the road.
Unfortunately for Desideri and his family, it’s unlikely they will ever get that jersey back. Unless they can prove that they revoked permissions at the right time, it will be hard to reverse the sale and force the new owner to give his item back to the original seller.
As for Victor Wembanyama, he might have learned a valuable lesson from this whole ordeal. Human greed knows no bounds, and it may be better to avoid jersey swaps with fans going forward unless he knows they won’t be trying to sell it for a quick buck.
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