Aug. 12, 2000 SportsLine.com wire reports

PHILADELPHIA -- The ball that Wilt Chamberlain might have used to score his NBA-record 100 points is back on the auction block.

In May, the ball's sale was called off because of questions about its authenticity.

The disputed ball will be back at Leland's auction house in New York Sept. 21 and 22 with a notarized affidavit from nine spectators at the historic game between Chamberlain's Philadelphia Warriors and the New York Knicks at Hershey, Pa.

Kerry Ryman of Annville has said that as a 14-year-old he stole the ball at Hershey Arena on March 2, 1962, moments after the game. The signed affidavit has nine signatures backing up his story.

Others at the game, however, including 76ers statistician Harvey Pollack, have said the 100-point ball was taken out of the game by referee Willie Smith and later given to Chamberlain.

They say the 100-point ball was autographed by Warriors players and officials, put on display in Philadelphia, then lost or given away when the Warriors moved to California.

Pollack has insisted that the ball Ryman took had been in use for only the final 46 seconds of the game, after Chamberlain reached 100.

"At the very least," said Leland's Mike Heffner, who indicated that the bidding next month would start at $25,000, "it was the last ball used in that game."

Leland's sold the ball April 28 for $551,844 - a record for a basketball and the third highest figure of any sports memorabilia item sold at auction. The buyer in that canceled sale never was identified.

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