Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic has quickly established himself as one of the NBA's biggest attractions in a short time. The latest example is that a very rare Doncic rookie card sold on Sunday for more money than any NBA card ever has.
The card -- which went for a whopping $4.6 million on the open market -- features the NBA logoman catch, which is from a Mavericks jersey that Doncic wore, and a signature in blue ink. It was the only card made of that specific variety.
The Doncic card was originally from a box of 2018-19 Panini National Treasures Basketball trading cards and was revealed during a live pack break at the Layton Sports Card shop in Altamonte Springs, Fla. The card ended up being sold to collector Bolillo Lajan San. It's unclear what he initially paid for it, though TMZ Sports claims San paid more than $400,000 for the card.
At $4.6M, that's a new record for the highest price that's ever been paid for a basketball card.
— Will Weinraub (@willweinraub) March 1, 2021
And it was pulled during a live break by @LaytonSports.
Check out the reaction: https://t.co/kbDoyZmreH pic.twitter.com/TlTnQhYbGr
On Sunday, San sold the ultra-rare Doncic card to high-end collector Nick Fiorella for $4.6 million. Not a bad investment on San's part.
This Doncic card isn't just the most expensive NBA card -- it's the second-highest purchase of any sport trading card in history. Only a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card sold for more ($5.2 million). Prior to the Mantle card being sold, the previous record was a 2009 Mike Trout rookie card that sold for $3.9 million.
Doncic has the potential to be in the conversation among the all-time greats if he continues on the current trajectory that he's on. If that ends up being the case, the value of Fiorella's might increase even more.
