Milwaukee Bucks superstar and casual sports card collector Giannis Antetokounmpo is the latest hobbyist to make an offer for the Topps NOW 1/1 triple autograph card featuring LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.
Responding to a video about the card posted by Collectible Guru on Instagram, Antetokounmpo simply wrote: “150k I need that.”
Antetokounmpo’s offer is for a card that has yet to be released and likely won’t physically be in the hands of any collector until September.
His offer is also a little light.
Is Giannis a buyer on the triple auto??? pic.twitter.com/42L32RZhkj
— Topps (@Topps) August 27, 2024
Antetokounmpo’s bounty is the latest in a number of high-dollar bids placed on the card by influential hobbyists following the card’s reveal shortly after Team USA’s victory over France in the men’s basketball gold-medal game at the Paris Olympics.
Sports Card Investor founder Geoff Wilson was the first to make an offer with a promise of $100,000 in cash, plus an additional VIP experience. Goldin Auctions founder Ken Goldin followed that with his own offer of a $150,000 non-refundable cash advance, plus the first lot in an upcoming auction.
Wilson’s second offer included a $250,000 irrevocable bid if the owner of the card agreed to consign it to the Holy Grails auction hosted by Fanatics Collect and Sotheby’s on Sept. 23 and 24.
The previous bounties were all eventually crushed by a $500,000 offer from hobby shop Grand Slam Collectibles. The only caveat to the deal is that all three signatures must secure PSA 10 or BGS 10 grades.
Topps announced earlier this month that the triple autograph would be sent to one purchaser of the Topps NOW James-Curry-Durant card. Originally retailing for $11.99, that base card finished with a print run of 588,035, a record for any Topps NOW card.
"If I ever go broke I'm going to sell them. Just to have a backup plan."
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 29, 2021
Giannis showing off his basketball cards. ???????? pic.twitter.com/2UxqAN7BPz
The release is the first to feature the trio of James, Curry and Durant on the same card, while the triple autograph is the first signature from James under the Topps brand.
An exclusive signer for Upper Deck since entering the NBA, James signed a new deal with Fanatics last year. His first autograph under Fanatics arrived earlier this year as a Bowman U Chrome Superfractor 1/1 Dual Autograph with his son Bronny James.
Antetokounmpo first revealed his card collection in 2020, showing off a variety of his own cards in a since-deleted video. The Bucks star would follow that by showing off cards of teammates Bobby Portis and Donte DiVincenzo during a press conference.
“If I ever go broke I'm going to sell them,” Antetokounmpo said. “Just to have a backup plan."
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.