A few years ago, there was a surge in Kevin Durant cards. Thankfully, I picked this one up a long time ago. Durant is clearly one of the top 20 or 25 players to ever play in the NBA. However, his basketball persona often rubs fans the wrong way and his jumping from the team-to-team decreases his overall fan base and collectibility. Still, Durant cards are on the low side of where he will be remembered, historically, I think. This is a nice opportunity to buy some of his cards. He will never be super high on my list, but I do like to have a couple key, rookies and autographs tucked away. And man, the sonics need a to be a team back in Seattle!

Another post for Kobe Day, 8/24. This is another one of my favorite Mobe cards for a few reasons. This upper deck SP signature set is amazing. The cards are perfectly represented with enough negative space to make the autographs shine. It helps that it’s in a perfect Gem BGS 9.5 grade.

Back in the day, Jerry Stackhouse was the equivalent to Vince Carter. While not as explosive. He was still a threat on the offensive side of the floor. I think that’s why I got this card graded at the time. The foil etching was super cool it were pretty hard to grade. I can’t remember why I chose SGC over PSA or BGS. Probably because of pricing. Still, this almost 30-year-old card is in gentle condition as an SGC 98. It’s considered gem. It likely doesn’t have a ton of value, but it’s still a pretty cool card from the mid 1990s.

This is still one of my all-time favorite pack-pulled autographed sets. Great design with room to feature the autograph. Clean look, on-cars autos, great set list with McGrady, Bird, Magic, Kobe, Jordan, LeBron and others. One of the only McGrady cards I have. The gold parallels #/50 are nice but can get pricey!

Dirk Nowitzki was an absolute beast. A nearly seven footer with great ball handling skills and inside/outside presence. Additionally, he was a true leader, and guided his team to the NBA championship. But the further we go out from the mid 90s, kids these days forget about how dominant Dirk was. Clearly, he grew up in the time of Kobe, LeBron, Shaq, Duncan, Iverson and the rest, and still managed to take the Mavericks to a championship. He is a top 25 to 30 player in my book.