News
Aug 21, 2026
“It’s happening, Knicks fans, it’s happening! It’s been 53 years…” said New York Knicks radio play-by-play announcer Tyler Murray, popping the proverbial champagne as the 2025-26 seasons came to an end this June.
For some, that call meant a celebration decades in the making. For others, it was a merciful end to a disappointing season—and the beginning of a new era of hope, as the countdown to the 2026-27 NBA season officially began.
With the NBA Draft behind us, along with the regular slew of schedule release videos, many have begun readying their basketball card collections for the new season. We’re not talking rookies like AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and Caleb Wilson, whose cards won’t arrive in packs until the fall. We’re talking about stacking your team’s favorite star, evaluating players that are primed to take the leap, and the best ways to build a basketball binder that’ll last a lifetime.
That’s why we sat down with NBA writer—and avid card collector—Josh Eberley, whose bylines appear on storied basketball sites like Hoop Mag, Sporting News, and more, to learn more about his approach to basketball cards next season.
Courtyard: How long have you been collecting sports cards, and how has your approach changed over time?
Josh Eberley: I have been collecting roughly five or six years. At the start, COVID was nearing the end of its immediate intrusion, and I just found this moment of desire to hop back in sort of balloon into an addiction. I collected Pokemon and Yugioh as a kid but being an adult with more financial freedom combined with my love of basketball, really just kicked in a door I didn’t know was there.
When I started out, I was somewhat aimless. I was buying random cards all over the place and I was completely lost in how big it all was. I would not recommend bankrolling a labyrinth run in the dark. As I grew in the hobby space, I really slimmed down what I was interested in, and got a much better sense of where I wanted my collection to grow and what I wanted to sell, or hold only briefly, knowing I would eventually sell.
Courtyard: How has collecting basketball cards brought you closer to the game?
Josh Eberley: I don’t know that it’s brought me closer to the game, I probably watch and consume more NBA basketball and related content than 99% of the world. But collecting added to that for me. It gave me this other venue to sort of showcase or validate my lifelong love of basketball.
Courtyard: The offseason can be an interesting time for collectors—an opportunity to strategically map out the next season and reorganize their cards. What changes have you made to your collection this summer?
Josh Eberley: This has been an absurd summer. Usually, summer is a great time to buy as things stagnate. Often prices fall and you can be choosier but this summer has been somewhat the opposite. Prices have soared and I’ve sold a lot more than I usually do at this time.
Courtyard: What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the sports cards space over time?
Josh Eberley: I would say just the size of it all. I had one friend who brought me into the hobby initially and now I’ve got 8-10 longtime friends who are all collecting. Outside of that, the community of people I know in the basketball space, many of them in media positions who now collect, has easily tripled. It’s just absolutely expanding at a phenomenal pace.
Courtyard: What are your thoughts on the NBA’s shift from Panini to Topps?
Josh Eberley: I initially really hated it. I came in during Panini’s run. I loved Prizm. I don’t like change and didn’t want to re-learn a whole new card language but I’m warming slowly to Chrome. I actually think Topps Chrome has done a better job of making retail pack opening fun. Putting real hits into the wild has made opening packs fun for the first time in my collection journey. I hated retail Panini boxes because the value was just atrocious, there were generally 0 possible hits in blasters or megas to validate the purchase other than the top rookie silver. I actually have no idea why anyone bought any of their stuff off Walmart and Target shelves. Lesser brands like Hoops or Mosaic selling at the exact or near similar price points were actual lunacy. On the other hand, all the non-Topps Chrome products have been a real miss for me. I love the Panini Origins set, Court Kings, Optic, Spectra… At this juncture, I’ve really only been interested in Chrome and Chrome Update.
Courtyard: What teams and what players do you collect?
Josh Eberley: I have a whole instagram committed to collecting the 75th anniversary sets from Prizm, Hoops, Mosaic, and Spectra. Outside of that journey, I collect LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Tyrese Maxey who is my favourite new era player.
Courtyard: What advice do you have for new collectors?
Josh Eberley: Go slow. Fall in love with looking and researching before you spend your money. Find what makes you happy to look at and collect two weeks after you have it and be tactical with how you pursue your hobby goals! Don’t think you are going to get rich rapidly, if it was super easy, everyone would do it. Not to say you can’t make money but decide how much of you is in this for love of the game and how much of you is trying to invest or flip.
Courtyard: This is such a loaded draft class. How, if at all, will you be attempting to collect these potential future stars?
Josh Eberley: I don’t know that I will, I’m not a massive flipper and the margins on missing big name rookies is not a game I currently want to play excessively. I think Peterson will be the guy whose prices astound the masses this year. I will be a lot more interested in continuing to add to the GOAT player stacks I’ve built. I also really like the Topps Chrome Moment in Time inserts, so I will try to grab that set moving forward.
Courtyard: When thinking about collecting a player, how important is their legacy to you, as opposed to, say, chasing after cards from a player you saw live or like off the court?
Josh Eberley: Legacy is everything to me. I read the Iliad really young and was extremely invested in Achilles weighing legacy in years vs. life lived. I’m a teacher, I think in large part because I want to be remembered for the good I did and how invested I was. My identity sort of makes legacy imperative to my hobby goals. Not to say that only all-time great players have a legacy worth collecting. Players who I will remember forever, are also guys I like to collect. Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Nuggets Carmelo Anthony. As an NBA super fan, I also indulge in the special moments. Knicks Jeremy Lin, Agent 0, Heat Ray Allen, Mavs Jerry Stackhouse. I still have way too many project, haha.
Courtyard: Who’s one player you collect that people wouldn’t expect?
Josh Eberley: I think the answer might be Steph Curry. I was on the LeBron James side of the rivalry and had many heated debates, podcasts appearances, etc. where I was critical of Curry’s fans. But I respect Curry immensely and that rivalry was in many ways the peak of my time watching NBA hoops.
Courtyard: Where do you see your collection five years from now?
Josh Eberley: Smaller. I often envision shifting my collection into a top-100 sort of model. Holding only 100 cards at a time and dealing in a +1/-1 sort of discipline.
Courtyard: Last question—what’s your grail card? If you had to choose one…
Josh Eberley: If I had a billion…I’d make sure to finish the 2021-22 Red Diamond /75 Anniversary Prizm set. I’d get myself a 2015-16 Select Gold LeBron. Maybe his most beautiful panini card. His 3-1 comeback year. I have a silver, but gold way above me. Then I’d hunt down the Maxey Prizm Nebula 1/1 and add that to the pc.