7 Day Trading Card Challenge - My Favorite Basketball Card

Today's challenge topic is the favorite basketball card in my collection. It's kinda a tough topic. I have plenty of basketball cards accumulated over many years, but there's not really one that stands out from the crowd. Well actually there is, but it doesn't fit today's post. So, I'm cheating a bit on my own challenge topic. My actual favorite basketball card arrived a short while ago, but I'll be writing about it sometime in the future when I put together the second 'Personal PC' post. Therefore, today I'll be telling the story about why my favorite card pictures teams and players that I don't particularly care for.

I've never really had a favorite NBA team. Instead, there has always been a handful of players in the league that I've preferred to watch(and collect). I've definitely had teams and players that I really didn't care for though. Year after year, the Knicks and the Bulls were usually pretty high on that list. Looking back I see that the primary reason I disliked those teams was because so many others that I knew loved them. If there is one thing writing these Challenge post stories has made me realize it's how much of a contrarian I was in my sports opinions, but I digress. Today's card(s) come from a time when the Bulls were coming off of their second championship in a row. I was pulling for any team from the East or West to prevent a third. That year my two least favorite teams met in the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite the participants, game two produced one of my favorite basketball moments.

The Dunk! This was an iconic play. Of course we now know that it didn't lead to the Bulls losing, but this was one of the first 'posterized' plays I can remember.

I didn't have this hanging on my wall, but several of my friends did. Alright, let's bring it back to cards. I began collecting basketball heavily during the 1992-93 season while searching for Shaquille O'Neal rookies. My excitement for the 1993-94 releases remained high as I anticipated hunting for Pennies. I remember walking into my LCS one afternoon and being shocked to see that poster image on a basketball card!

This 1st Day Issue parallel was staring at me from inside the display case. I struck up conversation about that game with the shop owner. For the record, he was a Knicks fan. Even back then, I loved those 1st Day stamps and I knew I wanted to have that card in my collection. I can't remember what I paid that day, but I do recall not thinking twice. Over the next few years, I looked fondly at this card quite often. When I packed my stuff to move from NY to NC, it was tucked safely into a box. It stayed there until about 2 years ago. As this blog was heading towards its unintended hiatus, I was staying active searching for post topics. I remembered how much I loved this card and went searching with the intent to write about it, but it took quite some time to find. So much so, that I actually thought I had lost it somewhere along the way. As I hunted box after box, I started checking eBay to find a suitable replacement.

I picked up this Members Only version about a week before I found my 1st Day Issue. Since I had two copies, I figured I'd try to track down the rest of this 'old school rainbow'.

I quickly tracked down this NBA Finals version on COMC and followed it up with the base version.

It's kinda hard for me to believe his was one of the last versions I acquired.

I hunted and found someone selling the last copy I needed as part of a Knicks team lot in a Facebook group. I commented that the Knicks set was sold.  The seller replied that the set was available except the Starks(which was pictured, btw). I messaged back and forth explaining to the seller that the Starks was the only card I was after because it was going to complete my rainbow. There was silence for an hour or two. The next reply came and the seller told me the entire set was available. Turns out he had planned to set the Starks aside for a buddy, but he thought it was cool that it would complete my rainbow and sold it to me instead.

Technically, there is one last parallel that I know exists. Topps often did Master Photo versions back then and one of hose is floating around for this card. However, I'm not planning on adding it the collection since it's not standard size. So, I'm calling this one complete with the 5 versions I have. Thanks for reading.

Starting Lineup for The Last Dance

Today's the day! The first two episodes of The Last Dance premiere tonight. The hype surrounding this 10 part, documentary mini-series is real and has definitely extended into the world of cardboard. Social media feeds near and far are being overtaken by Jordans from the late '90's and even sales of base cards have been going through the roof. I was never a huge Bulls fan or Jordan collector, but it certainly was incredible watching what that team was able to accomplish. In celebration of those accomplishments and the entertainment to come courtesy of the folks at ESPN, let's take a look at the starting lineup of your 1997-98 Chicago Bulls!!!

At small forward #1, 6ft-8in, from Central Arkansas, #33...

Scottie Pippen!!!

Full disclosure: this is not my card. I grabbed this image from a recently sold eBay listing. Way back in early 1997, I did own a copy of this. I was recently out of high school and working at Toys R Us unloading trucks or assembling various floor models. One day I went to the front of the store to buy a Mountain Dew(don't judge, I was young) at the end of a shift. On the way to the checkout lanes, I saw one of those 100 card repacks with this showing on the front. I didn't think twice and brought it with me to the register. I held onto this awesome insert for a few years and eventually traded it away. I can't remember what I got in return, but it was probably a handful of Gary Payton cards.

At small forward #2, 6ft-10in, from Croatia, #7...

Toni Kukoć!!!

*I split the small forward position because Pippen missed the first half of the regular season with an injury.*

In the middle of the Vin-Sanity craze, I bought a box of 1998-99 SP Authentic hoping to pull the Vince Carter Sign of the Times auto, his serial numbered RC, and maybe an Antawn Jamison RC. I pulled none of the above. I wasn't even lucky enough to pull a Dirk Nowitzki rookie(even though I had no idea who he was at the time). I pulled this auto instead. I remember what a big deal it was when Kukoć finally came to the NBA to play in Chicago, he just wasn't one of my favorites. To this day, his auto lives in my 'for trade/sale' box.

At power forward, 6ft-7in, from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, #91...

Dennis Rodman!!!

From his time with the Pistons through his post-career craziness, I was not a fan of The Worm. Younger me did have an appreciation for how great he was on the boards though. This is my favorite card of his that I actually own. I loved Finest and this is a low-key, all business design/picture. With my current collecting preferences, I kinda wish I owned one of the cards showing him in a more dynamic light, like diving for a loose ball or pulling down a rebound.

Next up, the man in the middle, at center, 7ft-2in, from New Mexico, #13...

Luc Longley!!!

Not much to say about this one. It came out of a pack of Ultra while I was searching for Tim Duncan and Keith VanHorn. I was not thrilled. However, upon inspecting it a bit closer for the purposes of writing this post, it appears this picture was taken during the 1996-97 NBA Finals.

At point guard, 6ft-6in, from Miami-Ohio, #9...

Ron Harper!!!

I don't have any non-base Harper cards. Much like the Longley, I thought this was the most fitting of the occasion as it looks like this photo is also from the '96-97 Finals.

And at shooting guard, 6ft-6in, from the University of North Carolina, #23...

Michael Jordan!!!

Back in the day, most MJ cards were out of my collecting budget. I really couldn't trade for them either because almost all of my friends that collected wanted his cardboard too. So, I pretty much had to stick with what I was lucky enough to pull from packs. From the moment I saw this card peeking out from middle of a 1992-93 Skybox pack, I was in love! I had enjoyed watching the Dream Team win the Olympic gold medal in the summer of '92 and this was a rare, non-base Jordan pull for me. Since he is the source of all the hoopla(see what I did there), I'm going to write about one more Jordan card before wrapping up.

In the summer of 1994, all of the MJ hype was focused on his new found quest to become an MLB ball player. I was living in a rural town in Orange County, NY and had the good fortune to have a tiny LCS that was about a 5 minute bike ride from my house. A few days a week, I would ride to the shop and spend time talking with the owner, flipping through singles, and buying some packs(allowance-permitting). I wasn't one for minor league cards back then, but since MJ was going to make an appearance in the newly released Upper Deck Minors set, I picked up a few packs throughout the summer. A week or two before school started, I pulled this. Though I may be in the minority, I really liked the 1994 Upper Deck design and I was thrilled to pull such an 'in-demand' piece of cardboard. 

They're coached by...

Phil Jackson.

This is one of the first basketball sets I can remember opening. Packs were cheap and readily available at my local mom and pop convenience store. Get a load of that tie!

Let's hear it for your starting five(plus two) getting ready for The Last Dance!

I hope you enjoyed this take on the highly anticipated series. Thanks for reading.