Cooper Flagg’s jersey in his debut with the Dallas Mavericks was an investment asset. The rookie patch he wore that night was retired and turned into an autographed trading card worth more than $1 million. It’s the new gold rush in NBA collectibles.
Starting this season, each of the NBA rookies will wear a patch with the word “NBA Debut” during the first game they play in the league, after which it will be removed from the jersey and printed on a collectible card that will go on sale in surprise envelopes.
It is a model similar to the one that has already been in place since 2023 in MLB baseball, and that last year generated a frantic search for rookie Paul Skenes’ card. That piece ended up being acquired at auction for $1.1 million, after an 11-year-old boy found it in an envelope he opened for Christmas.
It would not be strange if Flagg, called to be the new face of the NBA, unleashes a similar phenomenon with his card.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, last season’s MVP, Stephon Castle, rookie of the year, and Evan Mobley, best defender, will also wear a gold patch on their jerseys throughout the year that will commemorate their awards, and which at the end of the campaign will be transformed into three exclusive cards.
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Stock out of stock
This search to transform the debuts into million-dollar merchandise responds to an alliance between the NBA and Topps, a company specialized in collectibles that had the license to market the league’s cards for the first time in 1957 and which maintained it with some interruptions until 2009, when it was replaced by Panini.
One of the first Topps cards in the NBA was precisely that of a rookie Bill Russell in the Boston Celtics, when he had not yet achieved any of his eleven rings, and which reached a price of $660,000 at an auction in 2023.
The return of Topps has boosted sales of boxes of NBA cards in recent weeks, and stocks have sold out on its website.
“Imagine having the debut patch of LeBron (James), (Michael) Jordan, (Stephen) Curry, and what that would mean?” CEO of Fanatics Collectibles, which owns Topps, Michael Mahan, told ESPN.
The company, however, will face restrictions on including cards of some stars of the league, such as Luka Doncic, of the Los Angeles Lakers, or Zion Williamson, of the New Orleans Pelicans, in its initial sets.
NBA cards reach up to 12.9 million dollars
Some NBA trading cards, especially those exclusive to iconic players, have recently sold for several million dollars.
This was the case last August of a trading card signed by Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, whose price rose to 12.9 million dollars at an auction by Heritage Auctions.
This figure was a record amount for a card of this type in the United States, exceeding the $12.6 million for which a 1952 card of American baseball player Mickey Mantle, legend of the New York Yankees, was sold in 2022.
However, it did not surpass a jersey worn by legendary baseball player Babe Ruth during the 1932 World Series, which was auctioned last year for $24 million, making it the most expensive sports collectible to date.
With information from EFE
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