Cooper Flagg trading card with game-worn debut patch sparks auction frenzy, sells for $8.04 million

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Set us as preferred A Friday morning rush hour of intense bidding sent the one-of-one Cooper Flagg Topps Rookie Debut Patch Card skyrocketing at auction, selling for a record-setting $8.04 million.The price more than doubled during the feverish close of the auction presented by Fanatics Collect.The card of the Dallas Mavericks star forward became the third-most expensive NBA card ever, trailing only the dual Kobe Bryant–Michael Jordan and Jordan–LeBron James cards that each sold for more than $10 million last year.

It also ranks as the fifth highest sports card sale, according to Card Ladder.A Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps card sold for $12.6 million at a Heritage auction in 2022, and an ungraded Shohei Ohtani 2026 Topps Chrome Gold Logoman patch autograph card fetched $11 million July 30 in a private sale.Flagg, the first pick in the 2025 NBA draft out of Duke, was Rookie of the Year at age 19 and set an NBA record for teenagers by scoring 40 or more points four times, breaking the record of three set by James in the 2003-2004 season.

At a Fanatics Fest in New York in July, Flagg signed the Rookie Debut Patch Autographed (RDPA) card then took the stage with ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi.“I was a little nervous,” Flagg told Negandhi.“I’ve signed a lot of cards, but that one was a little nerve-wracking.” Sports One of the more than 60 reported victims of Daejon Love’s alleged schemes alerted the 49ers eight months before he was arrested.Why? The card features a patch that Flagg wore on his Mavericks jersey during his first NBA game.

Pairing the game-used memorabilia with a rookie’s signature has almost overnight made the RPDA cards the most sought after by collectors on the market.The previous high paid for a Flagg card was $366,000 — a mere 4.55 percent of $8.04 million.

Two RPDA cards besides Flagg’s also sold f...