“This is some real s—,” Klempner says as he continues to rifle through the foot-high stack, flinging contracts and letters signed by the likes of George Gervin, Larry Bird and LeBron James. Some papers have historical significance: docs connected to the league’s first collective bargaining agreement, salary cap and drug program, plus records from lockouts and lawsuits past. A manila folder emerges with a JOHNSON MAGIC sticker attached. Other pieces veer towards esoterica. There is a stack of signatures from players who came together to protest the changing of the regulation basketball in 2006. A collection of 1990s Knicks stars—Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, Latrell Sprewell—signed a sheet to verify they’d received 1099s. On top of it is a hot pink sticky note, addressed to Klempner and signed by Chris Dudley, who wrote, “Didn’t realize I still had these… Hope it didn’t cause too much of a problem.”
