NBA star’s rookie card sells for record-setting $1.812 million. No, it wasn’t LeBron’s
.jpg "The 2013-14 National Treasures Horizontal (RPA) #130 Giannis Antetokounmpo Signed NBA Logoman Patch Rookie Card")
Chalk up another off-the-court victory for Giannis Antetokounmpo over LeBron James.
Not only was the Milwaukee Bucks forward recently named the NBA’s MVP for the second consecutive year, but his rookie card just shattered a record previously owned by James by selling for a mind-boggling $1.812 million.
That’s $12,000 more than James’ 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Rookie card that sold for $1.8 million in July. The market for basketball cards has soared to new heights in 2020 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales spiked more than 130% from March through May, compared to the same three months of 2019, Sports Collectors Daily reported.
“The fact that we were able to achieve a new basketball card sale record for a player named something besides LeBron or Jordan shows the depth of the hobby and proves just how strong this economy and our auction are right now,” said Ken Goldin, Founder of Goldin Auctions, the auction house that also sold James’ rookie card.
While the sale of the card is breathtakingly high, it still doesn’t hold a candle to the value of other major sports cards like, say, baseball.
A 1909 Honus Wagner card sold for $3.12 million in 2016. The reason? Wagner, a shortstop with the Pittsburgh Pirates, apparently blocked the American Tobacco Company from continuing the production of the card, Stadium Talk said.
Football cards can also be a collector’s fantasy as well, but they tend not to fetch as much as baseball and (now) basketball. One of the highest is a 1935 National Chicle Bronko Nagurski Rookie Card, which has a value of $750,000 according to Old Sports Cards. Nagurski was both a tackle on defense and fullback on offense and was one of the NFL’s original Hall of Fame inductees in 1963.
This story was originally published September 21, 2020 at 2:29 PM with the headline "NBA star’s rookie card sells for record-setting $1.812 million. No, it wasn’t LeBron’s."