Victor Wembanyama Cards Decline in Value Amid Recent Injury

As we approach three weeks since we last saw Victor Wembanyama play basketball, Spurs fans aren’t the only ones concerned about his health. Sports card collectors have gone all in on him ever since watching him suit up this year and put up other-worldly numbers, only to now see his prices fall right back down to earth. His 2023 Silver Prizm Rookie in a PSA 9, for example, sold on December 1st for $435, the lowest sale in over a month, after hitting a peak of $611 during that same timeframe. Below is a chart from Card Ladder, a popular platform for tracking trading card values, that illustrates the drop in his card prices over the past couple weeks.

Victor Wembanyama Card Prices — https://app.cardladder.com/players/Victor%20Wembanyama

This trend isn’t new to Wemby collectors, as his card market has been on a unique roller coaster ever since his first cards were released. They came out at unprecedented heights, only to correct themselves right up until October 2023 when he made his NBA debut and saw a huge spike as the hype returned. His values then declined steadily throughout his rookie season before jumping again in his second year, where he made his first All Star appearance and looked primed to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. Shortly after though, he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis, which sidelined him for the rest of the season and sent his card prices back down. Now, after another great start and another spike, this recent drop feels like part of the new normal for Wemby cards.

Victor Wembanyama Rookie Card — https://www.ebay.com/itm/406424700953?nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true

As we continue to see these market swings, Victor Wembanyama cards are proving to be unpredictable not only as a long-term hold, but as a short-term one as well. Many were skeptical, myself included, about the long-term pricing of a third-year center whose cards were outpacing players like Shaquille O’Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon, as centers have historically struggled to sustain strong card values. But the trend we’ve seen so far in Wemby’s career makes it clear that even in the short term, there’s always going to be added risk tied to his health and, in turn, his pricing. And with the NBA now requiring award recipients to play at least 65 regular season games, collectors will always be left wondering whether he can stay healthy enough to earn the awards his talent suggests he’s more than capable of.