A one-of-a-kind Luka Doncic rookie card sold for $3.12 million early Friday morning, the most ever paid for a basketball card at a public auction.
The 2018 National Treasures Luka Doncic Rookie NBA Logoman card was listed by PWCC Marketplace Premier Auction and was sold after a two-week listing.
While the $3.12 million sale sets a new record for a basketball card at a public auction, it is worth noting that the record for a private sale of a basketball card is much higher.
The same Doncic card was previously sold in 2021 at a private auction for $4.6 million, at the time the highest price ever paid for a basketball card.
The rookie Doncic National Treasures Logoman RPA (rookie patch autograph) features an on-card autograph and a player-worn NBA shield logo — hence, “Logoman” — and is numbered 1-of-1.
“When this card went to the block, we purposefully avoided speculation on a price because this was an important moment for the market to decide on the value of Luka’s best trading card. The card stood on its own merits and the market placed it where it belongs,” read a statement by Jesse Craig, vice president of sales at PWCC Marketplace.
“If you include private sales, Luka now sits between the high sales for LeBron and Jordan,” Craig continued. “The market confirmed Luka is in rare air in terms of collectability with this sale.”
The record price for a basketball card is $5.2 million for a LeBron James RPA, brokered by PWCC in April 2021.
The Doncic Logoman now accounts for, publicly and privately, the second and third highest amounts ever paid for a basketball card. The $2.7 million Michael Jordan Upper Deck Game Jersey autographed patch card, sold in October 2021, remains the fourth most expensive.
The Luka Logoman’s $3.12 million price tag is tied for the seventh-most expensive trading card of any sport ever sold at a public auction and the 14th-most expensive card ever sold in a public auction or private sale.
Doncic trading cards going for a pretty penny is nothing new — his limited edition Panini Gold Prizm card sold in an auction in 2021 for $799,500.
Doncic was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018-19, and he is an early favorite for league MVP honors this season. In 13 games played, Doncic is currently averaging a league-high 34.4 points per game with a career-high 9.8 rebounds per game and 6.4 assists per game.
In early November, Doncic, in his fifth season with the Dallas Mavericks, became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in the 1962-63 season to score 30-plus points in each of a season’s first seven games.
“It is his premier card making its public debut while he is playing extremely well,” Craig with PWCC said. “It’s a very exciting moment.”
