What is NBA Top Shot?
That’s a question that will be asked much more frequently in the near future.
NBA Top Shot is a blockchain-based platform that allows fans to buy, sell and trade numbered versions of specific, officially-licensed video highlights.
In a joint venture that began in July of 2019 between the National Basketball Association, the NBA Players Association and Dapper Labs have come together to create NBA Top Shot, a “revolutionary new experience in which jaw-dropping plays and unforgettable highlights become collectibles that you can own forever,” per Dapper Labs Chief Executive Officer Roham Gharegozlou.
In plain terms: think of the future of the sports trading card market mixed with similar principles of cryptocurrency, but it’s virtual cards that contain individual NBA highlights.
How it works: the NBA cuts the highlights and then Dapper Labs decides how many of each highlight they are going to sell and number them. They place each highlight into digital packs, just like regular trading cards, and sell the packs on the official NBA Top Shot website for prices ranging from $9 to $230. The pack prices depend on the quality of highlight, the stardom level of the player and the exclusiveness of the card. Once you purchase a pack, those highlights go into your encrypted, secure highlight wallet to be “showcased” or re-sold on the NBA Top Shot Marketplace.
According to Action Network, there have already been five sales on the global, open, peer-to-peer, always-on marketplace worth over $20,000 U.S. dollars, including a specific LeBron James highlight that recently sold for over $71,000.
While this tweet below isn’t the specific highlight that sold for $71K, it gives you a better idea of what NBA Top Shot’s cards look like.
🚨 TOP COLLECTOR ALERT 🚨
This is 1️⃣ of 4️⃣9️⃣ LeBron James Moments that can ever be minted in our Cosmic packs. Scooped up by user rapid_goji_berry2079 via the #NBATopShot marketplace 📈
Start collecting Moments like these before the beta opens! https://t.co/S4XvtARyar 🏀⛓ pic.twitter.com/Lqm8grEIF1
– NBA Top Shot (@nba_topshot) September 29, 2020
Currently, there is a highlight card of Ja Morant dunking over Aron Baynes from his Rookie of the Year season last year that is being lobbied for $100,000 on the open marketplace.
If you’re wondering how to get started, all of the packs are currently sold out on the NBA Top Shot website – the only place you can buy, sell or trade the virtual cards. Check back here for when packs go back on sale or check out the NBA Top Shot marketplace to start your collection by purchasing individual virtual cards.
“This takes the traditional collectible into a modern, global era,” Dapper Labs CEO Gharegozlou told The Action Network. “All markets are immediate and international. No longer do you have to wait for a card to be graded, or delivered, or fear of forgeries.”
“…The trading card business is worth $5-$6 billion annually,” Gharegozlou stated to The Action Network. “I don’t see why we can’t get to a place where this business is grossing $1 billion alone.”
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