A basketball card showing Michael Jordan and the late Kobe Bryant and signed by both has auctioned for $12.9 million in Dallas to become the most valuable sports card ever sold and the second-most valuable sports collectible ever.
The card is from the 2007 – 08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs issue and was sold by Heritage Auctions at their August 23 – 24 Summer Platinum Night Sports sale.
The card went into the sale with an estimate of $6 million and up.
That would have set a record, taking the basketball card crown from a 2009 – 10 National Treasures Steph Curry Logoman Autograph card that realised $5.9 million in 2021, the buyer an investment fund.
But 82 bids sent the card well beyond that. Then beyond the $12.6 million paid for a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card that was the previous record for any sports card.
Mantle did feature in this sale, and set another record when a 1960 game-worn Yankees jersey of his realised $5.2 million, the most ever paid for one his shirts. It was extensively photo-matched to Yankees fixtures in one of the player’s stand-out seasons.
The Jordan/Bryant card was from a Dual NBA Logo Autographs series that was printed between 2004 and 2009. Only one of each card was produced, though Michael Jordan’s career is so impactful, he appears on no fewer than eight of the cards. Bryant appeared on 11, but just this one with Jordan.
Kobe Bryant’s tragic death in 2020 means this card cannot be repeated. It’s a unique issue. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
Furthermore, as Heritage explain in their description: “If there had been any question of whether or not this Kobe/Jordan pairing was the most desirable of all cards from the series, the tragic helicopter crash in January 2020 eliminated them, slamming the door on any possibility of a theoretical future sequel.”
Bryant’s death in that crash made the card unrepeatable.
The card was graded as excellent-mint 6 by a third-party grading company, PSA. The signatures were described by Heritage as being “as bold as the date of their application.”
The card was sold by an owner who had kept it for over a decade. The buyer remains anonymous.
Now, the card is the second most expensive sports collectible in history. In August last year, Babe Ruth’s “Called Shot” jersey from the legendary 1932 World Series tie made $24.1 million (£18.1 million).
Chris Ivy of Heritage told ESPN that the card was “the pinnacle” for collectors.
“The pre-auction estimate was $6m-plus. So sometimes if a piece is unique like this, it’s really beneficial to let it have its day,” he said.
