Since the pandemic began, a lot of people have found a hobby collecting basketball cards. And by hobby I largely mean side business, since people are selling them for absurd amounts of money.
I personally have not purchased a pack of cards in…I don’t know, adult life? Yet I still have an ample collection from my childhood.
And yes, while it’s nice to score a Michael Jordan or Ja Morant rookie card, I think there’s plenty of value (or at least a few laughs) in some of the unsung cards.
Here are three particularly enjoyable ones.
Steve Kerr can’t stop screaming
Steve Kerr has had a pretty fantastic NBA career. He won five titles as a player—three with the Chicago Bulls and two with the San Antonio Spurs—and has since added three more championships as coach of the Golden State Warriors.
Yet Kerr’s finest moment may come courtesy of this Fleer ’95-96 gem, which features not one, but two great faces.
The level of concentration on the front of the card would be plenty fun on its own. It looks like me trying to figure out what Wordle word has an “X,” “Z,” and a “U” in it.
But then we get to the back. You’ve got a weird mid-game pose, and Fleer said, “you know what? Let’s enlarge that and stick it on here again.”
Brilliant move all around.
Is it okay if you get water on your cards?
The saying “wave of the future” is not the most common way to say something is worth keeping an eye on, but it’s at least a phrase I’ve heard of before. And Flair made it a recurring theme in their cards, highlighting up-and-coming players.
However, with these ’97-98 cards, Flair really went all-in on the phrase. Or perhaps I should say they cannonballed in.
It may not be obvious from the photo, but these cards actually contained water inside of them. And because that’s not weird enough, they threw some glitter in the mix, too.
I imagine opening up this card might be what a waterbed is like. At first, you think huh, that’s kind of cool before realizing the logistical nightmare it presents. And then, you just weep softly.
BRB, gotta get ready for the All-Star Game
Kevin McHale is in the Hall of Fame, so he certainly has no shortage of memorable moments on the basketball court.
Yet, Upper Deck opted to go in a different direction for this particular McHale card.
Rather than a dazzling dunk or pulling down a rebound, Upper Deck featured a candid shot of McHale…putting on his socks before the All-Star Game?
I guess it’s good to make these NBA legends seem more approachable. After all, if McHale puts his socks on one leg at a time, and Bruce Dickinson puts his pants on one leg at a time, that’s just like us! Maybe we have a shot at superstardom down the road.
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