There are expensive basketball cards. Some grails make collectors cry happy tears. And then there’s this thing, a 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs card featuring Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, both autographed, both with actual Logoman patches from game-worn jerseys.

On Saturday night at Heritage Auctions, it sold for a record-smashing $12.932 million. Yup. Twelve. Point. Nine. That makes it the most expensive sports card ever sold, beating out the iconic 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle ($12.6M in 2022), and the second-most expensive sports collectible ever, behind Babe Ruth’s $24.12 million “called shot” jersey.

Cue the applause. Cue the gasps. Cue the fans sharpening their tweets. Because while some collectors are calling it the “holy grail of modern cards,” others are throwing elbows harder than Charles Oakley in the paint.

First, the card itself. Upper Deck’s Exquisite line was the pioneer of modern high-end cards. Back in 2003-04, a box cost $500, which collectors at the time thought was robbery. Now? That line alone paved the way for Panini’s National Treasures and Flawless, sets that go for $3,000+ a box and regularly pump out million-dollar grails.

This particular Jordan/Bryant Dual Logoman is a 1-of-1, meaning it’s literally the only one on Earth. Jordan has eight Logoman autos across Exquisite; Kobe has eleven. But both on one card? Once in a lifetime. Add in the emotional gravity of Kobe’s passing in 2020, and you can see why Heritage Auctions’ Chris Ivy called it the “masterpiece of all UD Exquisite cards.”

The kicker? It only graded a PSA 6. But when it’s a one-of-one, the grade barely matters. As Ivy put it, “Grades matter for standard cards… but this is a 1-of-1, so the grade is less important overall.” 

Fan Reactions: A Full Court Press of Hot Takes for Michael Jordan

Of course, no record-breaking sale is complete without the fans lighting up the comments section like Steph Curry after a heat check.

“Having expensive cards is shameful. How about spend that money on kids instead of a kids sport.” Look, it’s an understandable gripe, $12.9 million could fund a lot of youth leagues. But calling trading cards “kids’ stuff” is like saying LeBron still “doesn’t have a jumper.” Both might’ve been true in 2007, but times have changed. The trading card market is a multi-billion-dollar global beast now. Reports peg the trading card game (TCG) side, Pokémon, Magic, etc., at $7–16B in 2024, while sports cards themselves keep soaring. Target and Walmart can’t even keep packs on shelves. PSA graded about 1.6–1.7 million cards in a three-month span this summer alone. 

“Money ain’t gonna launder itself! There’s a good chance Heritage bought it themselves just to hyper inflate the market…” Ah yes, the ol’ “shill bid conspiracy.” To be fair, parts of the hobby have had shady moments (see: a 2025 lawsuit against PWCC over alleged shill bidding). But Heritage? They sell on consignment. The consignor brings the card, Heritage lists it, bidders battle it out, winner pays hammer price + buyer’s premium. Consignors pay their own seller fee.

If Heritage bought it themselves, that’d be fraud. And while NBA refs have swallowed whistles for decades, auction houses don’t usually risk their entire reputation on one call. Fees and premiums explain why totals look inflated, not some secret “washing machine” behind the curtain.

 “Mickey Mantle Rookie PSA 10 is the most expensive card in the planet 🌎” Almost. The Mickey Mantle rookie that set the record was actually graded SGC 9.5, not PSA 10. It sold for $12.6M in 2022, and until this weekend, it was the king of cardboard. Now, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant just dunked on Mantle.

“Thought Steph NT 1/1 was $5.9m, but not seeing it on CL?” That’s because the 2009-10 National Treasures Stephen Curry Rookie 1/1 Logoman Auto wasn’t sold in a public auction. Alternative-asset platform Alt bought a 51% stake in it, valuing the card at $5.9M. Private deal. Not everyone counts those the same way, so price trackers like Card Ladder might not list them like they do open auctions.

Basically: Steph’s Logoman is like Tim Duncan: quiet, effective, not always flashy in the public eye, but still legendary.

“Black mamba to have again ..I given it up to have Ben Wallace.” This one cracked me up. Because yeah, Kobe “Black Mamba” cards are grails. Just last week, collector Matt Allen (aka Shyne) spent $4M privately on two Kobe Logomans: $1.7M for a 2017-18 and $2.3M for a 2015-16. Meanwhile, Ben Wallace? Love the ‘fro, love the defense, love the ring with the ‘04 Pistons. But most Wallace cards top out in the hundreds. Kobe grails are in seven figures. That’s like comparing Shaq’s free throws to Ray Allen’s, same category, wildly different outcomes.

The Jordan/Bryant Logoman auction isn’t just about dollar signs. It’s about how far the hobby has come. Twenty years ago, collectors mocked Upper Deck for charging $500 for a box. Now, one of those “mocked” cards just sold for nearly $13M.

It also cements basketball cards as a legitimate blue-chip alternative asset. Investors now treat Logomans and rare rookies like fine art or vintage wine. And in Kobe and Jordan’s case, it’s not just scarcity, it’s history. One card, two legends, both signatures, both patches. Yes, some fans think it’s “shameful.” Others think it’s market manipulation. But in the end, the card is what it is: the holy grail of modern basketball collecting. And like the GOAT debate itself, nobody’s walking away from this one without an opinion.

So, who won here? Heritage Auctions made a killing. The seller cashed out with more zeroes than Gilbert Arenas’ contract. The buyer gets bragging rights until someone drops nine figures on a Luka Doncic sneaker relic. And the rest of us? We get to sit back, laugh at the hot takes, and remember that in a world where a cardboard rectangle with two patches and two autographs sells for $12.9M… maybe the most “valuable” thing of all is still watching Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant highlights for free on YouTube.

Because no auction hammer, no matter how loud, will ever drown out the sound of Kobe yelling, “Gimme the damn ball” or MJ muttering, “And I took that personally.”