Victor Wembanyama is making news these days as a third-year player who has led the San Antonio Spurs to a 2-2 series tie with the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals.
A sports card from the 7-foot-4 French star’s rookie season has also made headlines. Wembanyama’s 2023-24 Panini Prizm one-of-one Black parallel card recently sold for $5.11 million in a private deal brokered by Fanatics Collect.
It’s the highest known price paid for a non-autographed NBA card and the fourth-highest for any NBA card, according to price guide website Card Ladder. The buyer told the Athletic that he believes it will remain the best card for a player whose superstar potential is practically unlimited.
“There’s a sort of obvious ceiling for him, just as an athlete, that I think is higher than most people that are like the ordained superstars, like the next guy that we anticipate them being pantheon people,” said the buyer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “… If you take all these players and you say, ‘What’s their ceiling?’
I think Victor Wembanyama’s [ceiling] is substantially higher.”
Professional Sports Authenticator graded the card a Gem Mint 10, which the PSA site says is reserved for “virtually perfect” cards.
The previous record amount spent on a Wembanyama card was $860,100 paid for his rookie Panini Prism Nebula Choice one-of-one card in early 2025, according to Fanatics Collect. That card had a PSA 9 grade.
The grade for the recently purchased card came with controversy. Collector Cavelle McDonald pulled the card from a pack he purchased at NorCal Sports Cards in Roseville, Calif. A video posted to the store’s YouTube account in 2024 shows McDonald and NorCal Sports Cards owner Thomas Lindenthal getting the card graded.
After learning the card’s grade, Lindenthal gave “a huge shout-out” to Kurt’s Card Care. “Your product is phenomenal,” he said.
According to its website, Kurt’s Card Care makes “100% handmade Cleaning sprays and polishes free of artificial colors and scents. Perfect for cleaning and restoring your card collection.” PSA says on its website that it “will not grade cards that bear evidence of trimming, re-coloring, restoration, or any other forms of tampering” and lists “evidence of cleaning” as a factor in the company returning a card without a numeric grade.
Some people in the video’s comment section speculated that Lindenthal’s shout-out may have indicated that the Wemby card had been tampered with in a way that should have disqualified it from being graded. NorCal Sports Cards did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Times.
McDonald told the Athletic that “Kurt’s Card Care has nothing to do with me or the card.” The new buyer told the publication that he was unaware of the situation before purchasing the card, but said it wouldn’t have made any difference if he had known.
The largest amount known to be spent on any sports card is the $12.932 million paid last year for the 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs card featuring Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.
Wembanyama had 41 points and 24 rebounds in the Spurs’ double-overtime victory against the Thunder in Game 1 of the conference finals and 33 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots in San Antonio’s Game 4 victory on Sunday. Game 5 is Tuesday in Oklahoma City, with the winner of the best-of-seven series advancing to play the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.
Victor Wembanyama rookie card sells for a record $5.11 million
Victor Wembanyama is making news these days as a third-year player who has led the San Antonio Spurs to a 2-2 series tie with the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals.
A sports card from the 7-foot-4 French star’s rookie season has also made headlines. Wembanyama’s 2023-24 Panini Prizm one-of-one Black parallel card recently sold for $5.11 million in a private deal brokered by Fanatics Collect.
It’s the highest known price paid for a non-autographed NBA card and the fourth-highest for any NBA card, according to price guide website Card Ladder. The buyer told the Athletic that he believes it will remain the best card for a player whose superstar potential is practically unlimited.
“There’s a sort of obvious ceiling for him, just as an athlete, that I think is higher than most people that are like the ordained superstars, like the next guy that we anticipate them being pantheon people,” said the buyer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “… If you take all these players and you say, ‘What’s their ceiling?’ I think Victor Wembanyama’s [ceiling] is substantially higher.”
Professional Sports Authenticator graded the card a Gem Mint 10, which the PSA site says is reserved for “virtually perfect” cards.
The previous record amount spent on a Wembanyama card was $860,100 paid for his rookie Panini Prism Nebula Choice one-of-one card in early 2025, according to Fanatics Collect. That card had a PSA 9 grade.
The grade for the recently purchased card came with controversy. Collector Cavelle McDonald pulled the card from a pack he purchased at NorCal Sports Cards in Roseville, Calif. A video posted to the store’s YouTube account in 2024 shows McDonald and NorCal Sports Cards owner Thomas Lindenthal getting the card graded.
After learning the card’s grade, Lindenthal gave “a huge shout-out” to Kurt’s Card Care. “Your product is phenomenal,” he said.
According to its website, Kurt’s Card Care makes “100% handmade Cleaning sprays and polishes free of artificial colors and scents. Perfect for cleaning and restoring your card collection.” PSA says on its website that it “will not grade cards that bear evidence of trimming, re-coloring, restoration, or any other forms of tampering” and lists “evidence of cleaning” as a factor in the company returning a card without a numeric grade.
Some people in the video’s comment section speculated that Lindenthal’s shout-out may have indicated that the Wemby card had been tampered with in a way that should have disqualified it from being graded. NorCal Sports Cards did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Times.
McDonald told the Athletic that “Kurt’s Card Care has nothing to do with me or the card.” The new buyer told the publication that he was unaware of the situation before purchasing the card, but said it wouldn’t have made any difference if he had known.
The largest amount known to be spent on any sports card is the $12.932 million paid last year for the 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs card featuring Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.
Wembanyama had 41 points and 24 rebounds in the Spurs’ double-overtime victory against the Thunder in Game 1 of the conference finals and 33 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots in San Antonio’s Game 4 victory on Sunday. Game 5 is Tuesday in Oklahoma City, with the winner of the best-of-seven series advancing to play the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.
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Nations Championship 2026: Japan v Ireland to take place at McDonald Jones Stadium
Ireland’s Nations Championship fixture against Japan will take place at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, Australia on 11 July (11:00 BST).
Andy Farrell’s side open the inaugural tournament against Australia in Sydney on 4 July and will face the Brave Blossoms before travelling to New Zealand to take on the All Blacks at Auckland’s Eden Park on 18 July.
Ireland have won 10 out of 11 Tests with Japan, the sole defeat coming at the 2019 Rugby World Cup at Shizuoka Stadium. Ireland won the last meeting 41-10 in Dublin last November.
After July’s fixtures, Ireland will host Argentina, Fiji and South Africa in November at Aviva Stadium.
The biennial 12-team Nations Championship comprises six rounds of matches across the summer and autumn Test windows before a ‘finals weekend’ on 27-29 November at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.
After each team has played the other six from the opposing hemisphere once, they are ranked within their own hemisphere.
The finals weekend in London will start with the sixth-placed northern hemisphere side taking on their southern hemisphere equivalent, and culminate in the two group winners taking each other on for the title.
The results on the finals weekend will also contribute to a north v south overall score and title.
Ireland’s fixtures (times BST)
4 July
Australia v Ireland, Allianz Stadium, 11:00
11 July
Japan v Ireland, McDonald Jones Stadium, 11:00
18 July
New Zealand v Ireland, 08:10
6 November
Ireland v Argentina, Aviva Stadium
14 November
Ireland v Fiji, Aviva Stadium
21 November
Ireland v South Africa, Aviva Stadium
Finals weekend
27 November
Sixth-place North v Sixth-place South
Third-place North v Third-place South
28 November
Fifth-place North v Fifth-place South
Second-place North v Second-place South
29 November
Fourth-place North v Fourth-place South
First-place North v First-place South
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