[Article] Top NBA Cards Sold - week ending 30 May 2025

Welcome to my weekly segment highlighting the top NBA cards sold this week, where I'll discuss notable basketball card sales from various public sources. These top cards aren't solely based on the highest sale price but are chosen for their relevance in indicating trends or possible impact to the market.

2003 Lebron James Exquisite Rookie Autograph Patch BGS 8.5

Fanatics Premier - $312,000

This is what we in the hobby consider as the ultimate modern-day grail and for something so exclusive, this is the third public sale in last 60 days albeit in various grades. While the actual grade is important, but collectors place greater importance to the quality of the patch and the autograph. This was Lebron's first year signing autographs on a large scale and you can find plenty of inconsistencies in his signature across the different cards and products. Which is why this BGS 8.5 copy sold on Fanatics Premier for $312,000 was a full $120,000 lesser than a PSA 8 copy sold last December with a far superior patch.

2006 Topps Chrome Gold Refractor Kobe Bryant PSA 10

ALT - $49,500

Topps Chrome released gold refractor variations from 2003 to 2009, except in 2007. The most notable editions are the 2003 version, being the inaugural release, and the 2008 version featuring a photo of LeBron. However, many people don't realize that the 2006 version was limited to only 25 copies, the lowest serial number among the years. This PSA 10 copy, the sole one in its grade, sold for an impressive $49,500 on ALT, nearly five times the value of a PSA 9 sold just ten days earlier. Nevertheless, this price doesn't compare to the all-time high of the 2008 version, which sold for $312,000 in 2021. While I don't personally consider this 2006 PSA 10 a grail, I can certainly appreciate the exclusivity of potentially being the only one with a complete PSA 10 gold run.

1986 Fleer Michael Jordan 57 Rookie PSA 9

Fanatics Marketplace - $19,499

You might wonder why this card, despite its iconic status and over 3,000 copies, made the list this week. Its most recent sale was for $19,500 on May 28th, which is roughly the average price of the last 26 copies sold in the past 60 days. This is noteworthy because a card averaging nearly $20,000 with about 1% of the population changing hands within just 60 days is remarkable. If the card had a population of 100 or was priced at $2,000, such activity wouldn't be as surprising. Furthermore, there have been 59 transactions in the past six months, more than doubling the volume over three times the time period. Returning to this specific card, it's clearly an early graded copy, and while the label may not be very appealing, it can be easily changed. However, what can't be altered is the top-to-bottom centering, which is slightly unattractive given the high grade.