Victor Wembanyama has completely taken this NBA season by storm, especially with his dominant and consistent performances throughout the playoffs, helping push his team San Antonio Spurs to within just two wins of reaching its first NBA Finals in more than a decade.
The 7-foot-4 center has established himself as one of the NBA’s brightest young stars during his very first postseason campaign, already recording 35-plus points in three different games before the Spurs’ fifth Conference Finals matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
However, the latest example of Wembanyama’s growing star power came away from the court, as the sale of one of his rookie cards turned into one of the most expensive transactions on the market.
The sale of Wembanyama’s 2023-24 Panini Prizm one-of-one Black parallel rookie card, graded Gem-Mint PSA 10, was reportedly handled by Fanatics Collect, reported The Athletic. According to Collectibles Guru, the rare card sold for a staggering $5.11 million on Tuesday, making it the fourth-highest publicly known sale for an NBA card.
The anonymous buyer told The Athletic that they view Wembanyama as a future all-time great and consider the card a long-term investment in one of basketball’s most promising young stars.
The latest sale shattered the previous record for Wemby’s card, which was set when his 2023-24 Panini Prizm Nebula Choice one-of-one card with a PSA 9 grade sold for $860,100 during a Goldin auction in February 2025. That earlier sale came shortly after the 22-year-old’s second NBA season was cut short because of a blood clot in his right shoulder.
Wembanyama’s aura fueled by unstoppable NBA rise
Although the design of the recent record-breaking card itself is fairly simple, showing Wembanyama dribbling in front of a black background, the massive price tag had little to do with the artwork. Instead, the soaring value was driven by the Spurs star’s rapid rise on the court.
After displaying flashes of brilliance during his first two NBA seasons, the French star has elevated his game even further this year. He averaged a career-best 25 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.
While he fell short in the MVP race, the Spurs No.1 still capped off the season by winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. He has carried that dominant form into the playoffs as well, averaging 23.1 points and 11.4 rebounds across 14 postseason games.
Also read: Anthony Edwards gets brutally honest on Victor Wembanyama’s Game 4 ejection: ‘Hope they suspend him’
If anyone has played the biggest role in the San Antonio Spurs moving within touching distance of their first NBA Finals appearance since 2014, it has been the clutch performances of Victor Wembanyama, whose previous season came to an unexpected end because of medical complications.
