A rare, signed Giannis Antetokounmpo rookie card sold for $1.81 million at auction, making it the most valuable basketball card ever
- A rare Giannis Antetokounmpo signed rookie card has sold at auction for an astonishing $1.812 million.
- It becomes the most expensive basketball card in history, eclipsing the $1.8 million paid for a LeBron James rookie card in July.
- "The fact that we were able to achieve a new basketball card sale record for a player named something besides LeBron or Jordan shows the depth of the hobby," Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, told Auction Report.
- Antetokounmpo won his second consecutive NBA MVP title last week, beating out James once again.
A rare Giannis Antetokounmpo signed rookie card has become the most expensive basketball card in history, selling for an astonishing $1.812 million at auction.
The card, which also features the NBA "Logoman" patch from one of Giannis' game-worn jerseys, was purchased by alternative assets firm Alt at Goldin Auctions on Sunday, according to Action Network's Darren Rovell.
The record sale eclipses the $1.8 million Alt also paid for an autographed LeBron James rookie card in July.
"The fact that we were able to achieve a new basketball card sale record for a player named something besides LeBron or Jordan shows the depth of the hobby and proves just how strong this economy and our auction are right now," Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, told Auction Report.
Milwaukee Bucks star Antetokounmpo was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the second successive season on Saturday, beating a "pissed off" James to the award.
He also became only the third player in history after Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon to win the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards in the same season.
"Michael Jordan, one of the best players who's ever done it, if not the best," said Antetokounmpo, according to the BBC. "Hakeem, a guy that I look up to, he came from where I'm from, Nigeria, where I have roots.
"Just being in the same sentence with them, that means a lot to me."
Antetokounmpo averaged 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 63 games during the 2019-20 regular season, and 26.7 points, 13.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists in nine play-off games.
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