Very Few NBA Players Have Long Term Relevance in Sports Cards

When we look back through the history of sports cards, it seems as if each generation has it’s main highlights that are thought of when thinking about cards of that time. And the players who aren’t among that small handful of players often times ends up getting largely forgotten by the hobby, at least forgotten enough where their cards’ values don’t hold up much long term.

Even if a player had a hall-of-fame caliber career, it doesn’t mean their cards hold much value long-term. If you look at basketball cards from the mid 80s to the mid 90s, you’ll find lots of very valuable Jordan cards, of course, he’s the highlight there. And then you have a couple of other players who are like a tier down, but still remain relatively sought, players like Shaq, Barkley and Olajuwon stand out.

But many other all-time greats end up having cards that fall to almost bench player kind of values. John Stockton, Clyde Drexler, Dikeme Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning, and many others are all-time greats, but their values don’t get anywhere close to those few that remain as kind of the symbols of that era of basketball.

Kobe Bryant holds that kind of MJ spot in the hobby starting in his rookie year. Lebron James does starting in 2003. But very few others beyond just a small handful of players hold that much value.