Victor Wembanyama Rookie Card Sells for Record $5.1M in Private Sale amid Spurs’ NBA Playoff Run
Victor Wembanyama seems well on his way to a dominant Hall of Fame career, and one card collector paid quite the sum to land one of the San Antonio Spurs star’s rookie cards.
Larry Holder of The Athletic reported Tuesday that a 2023-24 Panini Prizm one-of-one Black parallel rookie card sold for $5.1 million in a private sale. The card had a Gem-Mint PSA 10 grade, and the sale was brokered by Fanatics Collect.
It was the highest-ever sum for a non-autographed NBA card, which was notable since Wembanyama has no officially licensed autographed rookie cards due to his exclusive contract with Fanatics. Panini had the exclusive NBA trading card license when the big man was a rookie.
As cllct pointed out, Wembanyama checks in behind only LeBron James as having the most expensive single-player card sale in history:
According to Holder, this sale marked an increase of more than five times from the previous record price for a Wembanyama card. In February 2025, a 2023-24 Panini Prizm Nebula Choice one-of-one card with a PSA 9 grade sold for $860,100.
“There’s a sort of obvious ceiling for him, just as an athlete, that I think is higher than most people that are like the ordained superstars, like the next guy that we anticipate them being pantheon people,” the buyer of the $5.1 million card said.
“Like Cooper Flagg, for example. Or (someone who) didn’t pan out from a few years ago like when Zion Williamson came in and there was a lot of talk about him. If you take all these players and you say, ‘What’s their ceiling?’ I think Victor Wembanyama’s (ceiling) is substantially higher.”
It’s hard to argue with that considering the overall impact the Spurs star has made in just three NBA seasons.
His resume already includes a Defensive Player of the Year award, a Rookie of the Year award, three block titles, two All-Star selections and a top-three finish in MVP voting at just 22 years old. He was a First-Team All-NBA selection this season and the driving force behind a Spurs team that is in the Western Conference Finals.
San Antonio tied the series at two games apiece against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a dominant 103-82 win in Sunday’s Game 4. Wembanyama finished with 33 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals, underscoring how many ways he can impact the game.
If he continues to do that for the next decade-plus, his rookie card only figures to increase in value.
