In case you needed another reminder of just how out of control the card-collecting market is, the recent sale of a Victor Wembanyama rookie card gave it to us.
According Larry Holder of The Athletic, a 2023-24 Panini Prizm one-of-one Black parallel rookie card featuring the San Antonio Spurs superstar sold for a whopping $5.11 million.
The sale of the card, which was a Gem-Mint PSA 10, broke the record for the most expensive sale of a non-autographed NBA card, and it’s the fourth-most expensive sale of an NBA card among publicly known sales.
Adding to that, the sale smashed the record for the previous high for a Wembanyama card, which was $860,100 for a 2023-24 Panini Prizm Nebula Choice one-of-one card that was graded as a PSA 9.
Who bought the card remains a mystery publicly, but the buyer spoke to Holder and revealed that the reason behind the purchase had to do with the buyer believing the card will be Wembanyama’s best.
“There’s a sort of obvious ceiling for him, just as an athlete, that I think is higher than most people that are like the ordained superstars, like the next guy that we anticipate them being pantheon people,” the buyer said. “Like Cooper Flagg, for example. Or (someone who) didn’t pan out from a few years ago like when Zion Williamson came in and there was a lot of talk about him. If you take all these players and you say, ‘What’s their ceiling?’ I think Victor Wembanyama’s (ceiling) is substantially higher.”
Victor Wembanyama delivering on the hype
Few NBA players have entered the league with as much hype as Wembanyama, who was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Since then, Wembanyama has had three impressive seasons to begin his career and has shown the hype was warranted.
After winning Rookie of the Year, making the All-Defensive Team and finishing as a runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year award in his first season, Wembanyama has added to his growing list of accomplishments with a pair of All-Star nods and a Defensive Player of the Year award.
Now, Wembanyama is looking to accomplish the ultimate goal of winning the NBA Finals, which he is six wins away from.
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If the Spurs can win two more games against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, they will meet the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.
And if Wembanyama and Co. can take care of business in that series, the French superstar will be elevated to an even higher level than he’s already at.
The term “generational talent” is often thrown around loosely in this day and age, but in the case of Wembanyama, it’s 100% accurate.