Somebody just turned $515 into $8 million off a piece of cardboard.
A one-of-one Cooper Flagg rookie card closed early Friday morning in Fanatics Collect’s September Premier Auction for $8,040,000 including the buyer’s premium, after a bidding war that ran from Thursday night into the early morning. The sale set the record for the most expensive single-player basketball card ever sold, and it is now the fifth most expensive sports card sale ever, clearing the famous Honus Wagner T206 that went for $7.25 million in 2022.
The card is a 2026 Topps Chrome Updates NBA Debut Patch autograph in PSA 10 condition. The patch comes from the jersey Flagg wore in his NBA debut on October 22, 2025 against the Spurs, and Flagg signed the card at Fanatics Fest in July.
The wildest part is how it surfaced. Jason Williams, a collector from South Carolina, spent $515 for a Mavericks spot in an August livestream box break run by RhodyBreakers in Rhode Island. They pulled the card live. “They slid that card over and I just slid to the floor crying,” he said. “It took me about five seconds to realize what I was looking at on that screen.”
Flagg, 19, was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft and just wrapped up NBA Rookie of the Year honors after averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists. Only two NBA cards have ever sold for more: the Jordan/Kobe dual Logoman at $12.93 million and the Jordan/LeBron dual Logoman at $10 million. A 19-year-old’s rookie card just pulled up next to those two. Let that sink in.