The modern era (2000-2018) is characterized by an emphasis on inserts and serial numbering started to take off, but products were generally simpler. There were fewer total sets and variations per player compared to the current market. Printings focused primarily card stock with the introduction of refractors, autographs, and jersey relics, and multiple companies like Topps, Fleer, and Upper Deck held licenses simultaneously for much of this period.
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The official rookie cards for Gasol were released in 2001-02 products and the majority of the 30+ cards are found for budget prices. 2001-02 Topps Chrome is also a popular option, and this example is hand-signed. Like most big men in the league, Pau Gasol is largely unappreciated by collectors. Pau Gasol was drafted third overall in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks traded his rights to the Memphis Grizzlies and that is where Gasol spent his first years in the NBA. The 2001-02 Rookie of the Year Award and one All-Star appearance gave Gasol some recognition, but it was not until a trade to the Lakers that he made the leap to stardom. The trade is also notable because it included Marc Gasol, Pau's brother, going from LA to Memphis.
Pau Gasol had a great run in Los Angeles, earning three All-Star nods and teaming up with Kobe Bryant to win two NBA titles. Although he was one of the most dominant big men in the league during this time, the Lakers quickly unraveled and Gasol was rumored to be on trading block for some time. This ultimately never occurred and he signed as a free agent with the Chicago Bulls, where he earned another All-Star selection in his first season and has the Bulls primed for a deep playoff run.
As some of the most eye-catch designs, the 2002-03 Finest cards hold their own through collectors’ eyes. The top two names tracked are LeBron James and Michael Jordan from this set. The top trending card is the #178 LeBron base followed by the #100 Michael Jordan base. However, key rookie cards included: Yao Ming, Amare Stoudemire, Manu Ginobili, Tayshaun Prince, Caron Butler, Jay Williams and others. Also, randomly inserted into packs were redemption cards for the 2003 NBA Draft Lottery that included potential cards of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.
After one season at Syracuse, Anthony entered the 2003 NBA draft and was selected with the third overall pick by the Denver Nuggets. While playing for Denver, he led the Nuggets to the playoffs every year from 2004 to 2010; the team won two division titles in that span. In 2009, Anthony led the Nuggets to their first conference finals appearance since 1985. He was named an NBA All-Star ten times, and an All-NBA Team member six times. He played college basketball for the Syracuse Orange, winning a National Championship as a freshman in 2003 while being named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. In 2021, Carmelo was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, and is regarded as one of the greatest scorers in NBA history. Carmelo Anthony played in the Olympics (for the US National team) a record four times, winning a bronze medal with the 2004 squad, and gold medals on the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympic teams. As of April 2016, he was the US Olympic team's all-time leader in points, rebounds, and games played. He currently ranks tenth among NBA career scoring leaders.
This rookie F/X #143 of Yao Ming shows the former 1st overall pick and Hall of Famer in GEM MT condition. With fabulous subgrades, and over 350 submissions, there is only 1 card with a higher grade in existence. Anytime a dark signing area is used, it can make it a bit harder to pick out the signature. This is clear with the green background for Yao Ming's SP Authentic rookie. Despite this, it still is a solid option for collectors. As one of the more plentiful autographs out there at 1,500 copies, this is also the easiest to find and prices are still relatively reasonable.
Yao is one of China's best-known athletes internationally, with sponsorships with several major companies. In April of 2016, he was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball all of Fame alongside Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson. In doing so, he became the first Chinese national to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. In February of 2017, he was unanimously elected as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Issued in August 2003, this 148-card set was divided up into 94 veteran player cards which were a mix of base and jersey cards (inserted overall at 1:1 along with the Legendary Fabrics, All-Star Apparel and Authentic Fabrics), 12 Michael Jordan Tribute cards sequentially numbered to 999 (card numbers 95-106) and 41 rookie cards (card numbers 107-148) sequentially numbered to 999. Base cards had white borders with accent colors to match team jerseys, the MJ Tribute cards have red and blue borders around the photos and white borders on the outside of the card and rookie cards have colored backgrounds to match jersey color and black and white designs towards the bottom of the card.
Jason Kidd is an American professional basketball coach and former player, who is the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. Widely-regarded as one of the most versatile point guards ever, Kidd was a 10-time NBA All-Star, a six-time All-NBA Team member, and a nine-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. He won an NBA Championship in 2011 (with the Mavericks), and was a two-time gold medal winner, with the U.S. National team, in both 2000 and 2008. In 2018, he was inducted as a player into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame alongside Steve Nash and Grant Hill.
2004 SP Authentic is a 191-card set released in June, 2004. The base set features 101 serial-numbered base cards. Despite the sheer volume of SP’ed rookie cards (56 Future Watch "rookies", all serial-numbered to 999 copies) -- or perhaps because of it -- there are no prominent rookie cards in the set. Dwight Howard chose to forgo college, and enter the 2004 NBA draft being selected first overall by the Orlando Magic. Howard set numerous franchise and league records with the Magic. He led the team to the 2009 NBA Finals.
He was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he spent three separate one-year-stints over the course of his career, but won the NBA Finals in 2020. Howard would become an NBA Champion, eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team honoree, five-time All-Defensive Team member, and three-time Defensive Player of the Year. He has been regarded as one of the greatest defensive players of all time.
In 2004, Andre Iguodala completed his standout collegiate career at the University of Arizona and was selected as the ninth overall pick in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He then began his professional career, making his NBA debut on November 3, 2004. He made an immediate impact in the NBA, starting all 82 games of his rookie season. Iguodala was the only 76er to play and start every game in his first season, and his performance earned him a spot on the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
Released at the end of June, 2004-05 Finest boasted a 220-card set divided up as follows: cards 1-100 feature veteran players, cards 101-130 feature jersey cards sequentially numbered to 299, cards 131-150 features retired players sequentially numbered to 400, cards 151-160 feature rookie player cards sequentially numbered to 400, cards 161-190 feature autographed RC cards sequentially numbered to 299, and cards 191-220 were originally issued as draft pick redemption cards sequentially numbered to 599. The cards are redeemable for the coinciding draft pick where card 191 is the first and picks go on from there. All cards were printed on foil board with a white background, a black strip along the bottom and silver highlights around the player's picture. Finest was released in boxes that contained three mini-boxes and an incased uncirculated refractor blue card. This specific card is numbered 147-of-249, but also features an on-card auto (scoring a Beckett Auto 10 grade) from “Iggy” himself.
The 2006-07 Finest Basketball set offered a 130-card base set. The first 50 cards feature veteran stars, while the remaining cards are dedicated to rookies. Numbers 51-100 are standard rookies, while #101-#130 are extended exchange rookie cards that are each numbered to 539. Several insert sets were issued with this product and base cards have 13 different parallels. Time has shown Kevin Durant to be the top rookie in the set.
However, this black refractor is of legendary point guard Steve Nash. He was named MVP, again, in the 2005-06 season and was runner-up for a third consecutive MVP to Nowitzki in 2006-07. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest point guards of all time. Nash led the league in assists and free throw percentage at various points in his career. He is also ranked as one of the top players in NBA league history in three-point shooting, free throw shooting, total assists, and assists per game. In 2018 he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Panini released 2012-13 “Gold Standard,” a third installment of the high-end lustrous line, including 10 cards per box – four autographs, one memorabilia n ad one metal card guaranteed. If the Black Gold Treads set checklist featuring 98 players isn’t short enough for a collector, look closely and you’ll notice this card also features an after-print, on-card autograph from Curry himself!
Prior to the start of the 2012 season, Curry signed a four-year, $44 million contract extension with the Warriors. At the time, many basketball writers consider the move risk for Golden State because of Curry’s injury history. However, over the course of the year – Curry alongside Klay Thompson – earned the nickname “Splash Brothers.” Steph would set a new NBA single-season three-point record (with 272), eclipsing the previous mark set by Ray Allen (269 in 2005), but by doing so in 53 less attempts than Allen did with Seattle.
2013-14 Panini Gold Standard Basketball took the gold theme to all corners of the set. The high-end product offered four autographs and a memorabilia card in each ten-card box. The base set had 275 cards, making it a challenge to complete given the small number of cards per box. There were four, additional autograph sets, each numbered to /199 or less. The “Superscribe” set checklist featured 40 players, and this Pippen on-card auto is numbered 6-of-49.
Scottie Pippen is widely regarded as one of the greatest small forwards and defenders of all time. He is best known for his pivotal role in the Chicago Bulls' six NBA championships in the 1990s alongside Michael Jordan. During his 17-season NBA career, he was a two-time Olympic gold medalist (1992 and 1996), x6 NBA Champion, x7 NBA All-Star, he earned the 1994 All-Star Game MVP, was x8 NBA All-Defensive First Team and three-time All-NBA First Team.
Ten years after the ground-breaking debut, 2013-14 Exquisite Basketball from Upper Deck was full of autographs of some of the NBA’s biggest names but also contained cards that commemorate the very first release of the ultra-high end basketball product. There were also cards that will be a shoo-in to be among the thickest cards in any collection. Every box of 2013-14 Exquisite had on average, five autographed cards. Some of the other insert sets that included autographs were Exquisite Rookie Auto Patch, Rookie Limited Logos Autographs, Rookie Autograph Variation, Exquisite Signatures and Dimensions Signatures. All of the signed cards had low print runs and there were also 1 of 1 versions of some.
Then known as Jason Williams, Jay won the 2001 NCAA Championship with Duke, and was NABC Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002. He was drafted 2nd by the Chicago Bulls in the 2002 NBA Draft after Yao Ming was selected by the Houston Rockets. Williams was a starter in the Bull’s line-up for most of the 2002-03 NBA season, but he was known as Jay on joining the Bulls to avoid confusion with two other players with similar names in the NBA at the time. His playing career was effectively ended by a motorcycle crash in 2003. He last played with the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League in 2006 when his season was ended early due to lingering physical effects from his accident. Since retiring, Williams has worked as an analyst for ESPN. Initially working on ESPN College Basketball, he was reassigned to the NBA full-time with his addition on ESPN’s NBA Countdown program in 2019.
Continuing to tap into their NCAA license, 2015 Panini National Treasures College Multi-Sport carries the tradition of the high-end release into a product that featured a variety of schools and sports. Only 30 cards create the college material signatures checklist, all of which are numbered to 99. This multi-color, colossal patch is stunning when paired with a rookie, on-card autograph. College Material Signatures (#/99 or less) pair a relic piece and on-card autograph across the three sports. This card is numbered 78 of 99.
Okafor played his freshman season of college basketball for the 2014-15 Duke national championship team. He was selected with the third overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.
2017-18 Panini National Treasures Basketball wasn’t necessarily breaking a lot of new ground. It didn’t have to. For almost a decade, the brand has been responsible for many of basketball’s biggest Rookie Cards. This edition, too, kept a lot of the same super-premium pieces as the past: autographs, patches, more big names than most other sets and plenty of rarities. The “Material Treasures Prime” checklist featured 49 players, and this GEM MINT version is numbered 20-of-25.
In 2017, Carmelo Anthony played his final half-season with the New York Knicks, was selected for his tenth NBA All-Star Game, and then was famously traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in September, marking the end of a significant era in New York and the start of a new chapter in OKC, often highlighted by his clutch scoring and transition to a new team dynamic. Part of the "Big Three" experiment, Melo joined Russell Westbrook and Paul George at the Thunder, a move many thought would create a championship contender. But role challenges struck Carmelo, the 10-time All-Star -who was accustomed to a primary scoring role- as he struggled to find consistency in a new, scaled-back role alongside other ball-dominant stars.
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