Good to Great (NBA Edition)

A couple of weeks ago, I authored a post on this site comparing the price of Josh Allen’s Prizm rookie card in PSA 9 to the rookie cards of six Hall of Famers in the same grade.  I won’t restate the entire introduction to that post here, but the basic premise is that from a risk and value perspective, buying retired legends is a solid option if you are looking to make money in sports cards.

As a follow up to that post, I wanted to conduct the same exercise for the NBA.  The young player we will use this time is LaMelo Ball.  At the time of writing his 2020-21 Panini Prizm rookie in PSA 9 carried a buy it now price on eBay of approximately $200.  While LaMelo is off to a strong start this season, that seems like a ton of money to shell out for a player who has played a grand total of 59 NBA games.

Below are 9 Hall of Fame rookie cards that I would buy before plunking down $200 for a LaMelo Prizm Base.

1988-89 Fleer #57 

Reggie Miller

PSA 9 eBay Buy It Now: $200

Hall of Fame Induction Year: 2012

Miller was one of the best pure shooters to ever play in the NBA.  He was a five-time All-Star, retired as the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-point baskets made, and is widely regarded as the Indiana Pacers’ greatest player.  

Miller is most famous for his performance to close out Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden.  With 18.7 seconds remaining, the Knicks had a 6-point lead and possession of the ball.  To conclude the game, Miller stole 2 Knick inbounds passes, sank 2 3-point shots, and made 2 free-throws to secure a Pacer win.  All of this took place with Miller trading insults with Spike Lee who was seated courtside that afternoon.