Basketball card featuring Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant sells for world-record US$12.9 million

An image of Kobe Bryant (Left) and Michael Jordan (Right).

A basketball card featuring Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant sold for US$12.932 million on Saturday, making it the most expensive ever sports card, according to the auction house which handled its sale.

The 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman, which was sold in Dallas, Texas through Heritage Auctions, features images of the two stars, as well as their signatures and NBA logo patches from their jerseys. The buyer’s identity was not revealed.

“The demand for this card is astronomical, which makes sense, because it has everything, including photos, jersey patches and signatures from two of the greatest players who ever stepped on the court,” Chris Ivy, Heritage’s Director of Sports Auctions, said in a statement in July.

“The Dual Logoman card offered in this auction is the only example created that includes only Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant – making it the most sought-after example of the incredible Upper Deck Logoman series, and because of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death in 2020, it always will be the only one.”

The “Dual NBA Logo Autographs” series, which was produced by trading card company Upper Deck between 2004 and 2009, features some of basketball’s biggest stars sharing the same card.

Each card was released in limited editions of one, with Jordan appearing eight times – paired with the likes of LeBron James and Scottie Pippen – and Bryant featuring in 11.

Despite the card having a pre-auction estimate of $6 million, the sale price surpasses the previous record – the $12.6 million paid in 2022 for a mint condition 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card. Prior to that, the most anyone had paid for a sports card was considerably lower: $6.6 million for a Honus Wagner card in 2021.

Before Saturday, the most expensive basketball card ever bought was Steph Curry’s Logoman from his rookie season in 2009-10, which sold for $5.9 million in 2021.

Cards featuring a league’s logo are among the most sought-after by collectors. As well Jordan, Bryant and Curry, record prices for cards featuring the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Patrick Mahomes and Luka Dončić have all included the mark of the league each belongs to, according to Heritage.

The Jordan/Bryant card is, however, not the most expensive item of sports memorabilia ever sold.

That honor belongs to the jersey Babe Ruth was wearing when he supposedly called his shot during the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs, which sold for $24.12 million in August 2024.

By Jamie Barton, CNN