All eyes in the sports memorabilia world are on top NBA draft pick Cooper Flagg as he prepares to make his professional debut on Wednesday, with his rookie card expected to be highly sought after.
But what should you do if you find one? Cash in, like an 11-year-old in Los Angeles did with a rare card for Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, or hold on and hope the Dallas Mavericks’ rookie lives up to the hype.
That, according to industry chief David Leiner, is the potentially multimillion-dollar question. It is one compounded by the fact that this year, there will be a Flagg card featuring the jersey from his first game, against the San Antonio Spurs, with a one-time only NBA debut patch on it.
“This is the ultimate rookie card, the autograph card is kind of king, but among autograph cards, the debut patch autograph is like the top, top, top,” he said.
Leiner, president of trading cards at Fanatics Collectibles, said there was a lot of “hype and excitement” behind collecting the rookie cards.
David Leiner, president of trading cards at Fanatics Collectibles. Photo: Fanatics/Topps
“Flagg keeps his jersey, but that patch goes into a one-of-one trading card. We’ll build the card and have him autograph it. That’s going to be the ultimate card.
