NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Cards Continue to Rise
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's rise to the mountaintop continued last night, as the 2025 NBA MVP led the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 124-94 blowout win to send the team to the NBA Finals. SGA, who scored over 31 points per game in the series, was named Western Conference Finals MVP, adding yet another piece of hardware in his historic campaign.
The Hobby has been right there with the Thunder superstar on his climb, with his card market taking off this season, and Panini Instant releasing an MVP card to commemorate his award-winning season.
The MVP shines when the lights are brightest.@shaiglalex's MVP performance brings the Thunder one game away from the Finals and you can celebrate his incredible MVP season with the official MVP #PaniniInstant Trading Card 🏆
— Panini America (@PaniniAmerica) May 27, 2025
Orders end soon! Shop now here:… pic.twitter.com/3v2I3OnyCj
Over the last six months, SGA's cards have popped off, with Card Ladder registering a Rate of Growth of +202.74%. Among active players, the MVP now trails only LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Luka Doncic in Card Ladder's Market Cap metric.
As the Thunder have made their way through the NBA playoffs, we've seen a ton of action when it comes to SGA's high-end cards. This PSA 10 2018 Panini National Treasures Patch Auto /10 sold for $180,000 on April 25, the second-highest sale ever for an SGA card. The most recent sale of this card at this grade per Card Ladder came in 2022, when the card sold for just over $43,000.
In fact, since the playoffs began, we've seen nine of the twenty-six all-time SGA sales of $50,000 or more. This PSA 9 2018 Panini Prizm Gold Prizm RC /10 sold for $60,000 on May 2.
Of course, despite all of Gilgeous-Alexander's success, there may be another boost to his card market just ahead. The Thunder will be heavily favored to win the NBA title in June, whether the team takes on Indiana or New York. A championship, and potential NBA Finals MVP, would put SGA in rarified air. Add to that the fact that Oklahoma City runs out the youngest team in the NBA, and is loaded with talent and armed with a treasure chest of draft capital, and SGA might just be getting started. A title would likely make a dynasty feel almost inevitable, and could embolden collectors who may grow confident that the guard's legacy could go through the roof over the next few seasons.
One particular high-end auction to keep an eye on is currently underway at Fanatics Collect. This 2018 National Treasures Alexander Patch Emerald White Box Auto 1/1 has received 21 bids at writing, with a high bid of $7,750. Extended bidding starts at 10 PM EST on June 1.
Michael Terry is a writer based in Brooklyn. He specializes in sports, culture, and collecting. His work has appeared at Topps RIPPED, ESPN, Grantland, Vice Sports, and more.
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