A rare Topps NBA trading card commemorating the rookie year of late Celtics legend Bill Russell reached iconic status recently after selling for a massive price at auction.
The card, recapping Russell’s performance in the 1956–57 season, sold on Thursday for $660,000 in a sale facilitated by PWCC Marketplace. The eye-whopping bid marks the highest price paid for a card of Russell, who died in July 2022 at age 88, and one of the most-expensive vintage (pre-1980) cards ever sold.
Next to the ’57 Russell card, only a Bowman rookie card of George Mikan, and a Fleer rookie card of Wilt Chamberlain have sold at a higher price, per ESPN. The 1948-49 Mikan card sold in March 2022 for a reported $800,000, while the 1960-61 Chamberlain card fetched a reported $670,000 in June 2022.
