2nd Annual Basketball Card Hall of Fame Candidates Part 1 w/Ray & Tony E405

0:00 Sports Card Nation, the hobby is the people. Weekly news and interviews, it's your number one source. Sports Card Nation, the hobby is the people. Sports Card Nation. What is up everybody? Welcome to episode 405 of the Sports Card Nation podcast. Happy, as always, to be back. And we got a great episode this week. We're going to talk to two gentlemen. And this was done sort of as a neutral setting. And we, you know, did it. And we all, you know, posted it on our own programming. But it's, you know, it's something they're doing every year. This is the second edition. What is the basketball card game? Hall of Fame. And this will be the second class. Last year was the first edition.

1:03 We're going to be talking to the two gentlemen sort of behind it. Not sort of. They are behind it. And that's Ray from Philly, Ray Fronio. And TJ is online, Tony. And four or five cards are going to get in. Your votes are what make it happen. So we're going to talk about, you know, part one is this week. Part two will be next week. but we're going to talk about all the candidate cards. There's a vintage wing, if you will, and a modern wing. And so we're going to talk about all the candidates in both of them. And, you know, voting is open until October. In the show notes, it will show where you can go vote and, you know, click on that link. You only get to vote once, but every vote counts, right? And one vote could be the difference whether one card gets in over another. Truth be told, that's just how voting works. So, you know, we're going to go through all the cards. I'm going to share who I voted for. Do not let that influence you unnecessarily. Vote where your heart tells you to.

2:17 Before we start the episode, I want to thank our great sponsors. SGC, Iron Sports Cards. Sports Collectors Digest, Hobby Hotline, Upper Deck, Card Ladder, and the Certified Trading Card Association. So with that being said, let's get the episode started. Attention Sports Card Nation viewers. What up, kids? It's your boy Scott Hanson from NFL Red Zone. Oh, we're back. Ball is back. The hobby never ends. And before you know it, I'm going to be on your screen again, rocking that octobox, knocking the bottom out of the witching hour, and announcing seven hours of Red Zone football. But as you watch Red Zone, just save some time. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, to check out John. and sports car nation. Let's have a great season.

3:34 All right. What's the old saying? You are looking live. Hey folks, this is Tony. I am presenting from Ray from Philly's YouTube channel, a brief takeover of the channel. A special guest tonight for Ray and myself is Mr. John Newman. Say hi, John. Hi, John. I follow orders. So tonight, we're going to go over the 2026 Basketball Card Hall of Fame Modern and Vintage Ballots. And John's going to be nice enough to share his votes with us. Yeah, listen, I'll share them. Again, I have my own personal reasons for whatever way I voted. So don't let my votes influence you. This is the second. This will be the second class. So there's some, you know, not just a little preview. There's some big cards on the ballot here that to me are almost. in my opinion, almost like shoe-ins. But again, the people speak with their votes.

4:43 So we'll see how the, when all is said and done, we'll see what the final tally is. But I'd be surprised if on the ones, on a couple of the few that I voted for, if they weren't, they don't make the text. Great class to share. A couple of quick housekeeping items. So we get one vote per person or online account. There's two ballots, just like last year, Vintage Error and the Modern Error. You get to vote for four cards on each error ballot. Only retired player cards are on the ballots, so there will be no LeBron James, since he still plays, or Joel Embiid.

5:23 One question. One question. Real quick, it says top four votes get in, but if there's a tie, both get in. So can five cards get in then? Is that what you mean? Yeah, there can be six cards if there's multiple times. So if there's three cards, they're the top three. And then for the fourth card, there's two cards with exacting. They both get denied, so there's a five-card induction. That's how I do it for the baseball card. Okay. That's got to be cool. We're ahead. That's why right now, instead of 80 cars, there's 81. Cause one year I did have it. There you go. I like that though.

6:05 Just some important, uh, dates we have here. So voting began Monday, August 17th and voting is going to end on the first Friday of the NBA season, which is October 23rd at 1159 PM. And Ray's going to announce when we'll have the announcement, the, uh, inductees ceremony, which had a soon to be date. We've got a couple other things we have to do first outside of this. And you can go to it by the sports card, hall of fame.com. I think it's this one. Let me just share the, I'll just share the entire screen. Let me share the entire screen. Look at that. Yeah. So this is the website that Ray put together last year.

6:49 It's you can get to it by going to the sports card, hall of fame.com. And yeah, We have the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Football Hall of Fame, and the Basketball Card Hall of Fame. If you click on that, you'll see the links being added in the next day or two. And underneath the links, we have the first class, which was voted on last year. And you got the vintage class and the modern class. So why don't we work in backwards order, if that's okay? So modern era first, John, if that works for you. All right. Well, at least I was alive. Although I am old, so I probably was alive for some era guys, too. I just don't want to admit it. But at least I got to watch some of these guys play. So you want to... I'm going to, you know, full disclosure, I'm going to tell... Again, I'm going to say whether I voted for this card or not. Again, these are just my votes. It doesn't mean that they're all not worthy, right?

7:47 They're on the ballot, so there's some worthiness there. But when you get to a card... If I voted for it, I might chime in either way, but I'll definitely let you know, like, hey, this is one of my picks. Cool. Anxious to see what you're going to pick here, John. I bet you I kind of know you. All right. Well, tell me if it was chalk. When I'm all said and done, it'll be like, yeah, that's what I thought. Now, listen, out of the three sports here, full disclosure, basketball ranks as, like, my third favorite. with baseball and football being ahead of it, but it doesn't mean I don't know it. It's going to rank third on my list.

8:29 You don't really look like a softball player to me, John. You look more like a hoopster. Yeah, I got a three-inch vertical. All right, so we've got the ballot on the screen right now? Yep, here we see it. Yeah, so who's your first pick? None of it. Let me see if I can. Make it bigger. Here, I'll make it bigger for you. No problem. I got old eyes. You got the 83-84 star Clyde Drexler. I tell you, that's a good one. That's a good one. I didn't vote for I Don't Believe. But man, I wanted to. It was tempting.

9:16 83-84 star Dominique Wilkins from the same set. No, I didn't vote for it again. Just because I didn't vote for it, I'm not saying the card's terrible. You only get four picks here. Only four. 84-85 star Akeem Olajuwon. Yeah, I did vote for Akeem. I think he's one of the underrated players. You know, I know him and Drexler are kind of aligned together because they were teammates as well. Mm-hmm. But, you know, Akeem really was that next guy that changed kind of the center game, you know, in his era. So I did vote for Akeem. Okay.

9:58 So that's your first vote? Next up, we got Sir Charles for the same set. Charles Barkley. Yeah. I voted for this one. I voted for this one as well. I think, you know, Barkley's still in the media today, right, as an analyst, commercials. Um, I, I, maybe that swayed my vote a little bit guys, to be honest with you, but he was a hell of a basketball player too. So, so I, I did, I did vote for this one. That kind of helps a player's card is their brand. You know, I take, everyone should take that into consideration, not just the value or the rarity, but like just the overall popularity of a player too.

10:42 It also is a factor. Next up. Well, I guess we're going to skip the, uh, Patrick Ewing. I voted for this call. Wow. Okay. Wow. So three in a row. So I only got one more left after that. Here's my thing. I don't love Patrick Ewing. I'm from New York city. I'm not a Knicks fan per se. I don't hate him either. Right. But I always, I think with the Knicks winning it this year and they included him as I know he didn't obviously retired, but they sort of included him on the, on the tour and the, and all that stuff. That's a classic card. Um, again, someone's going to get left out.

11:23 Maybe it's a little Homer in this there. Now, again, I'm not a Knicks fan, but I'm in New York and I'm a kid. So I did wrote to you and it probably, if I have any sort of voters remorse, maybe this is the card that makes me, you know, have a little bit, but I did vote. All right. So now if you have one more vote left, I doubt it. It's going to be the Scottie Pippen card. No rookie card. Shaquille O'Neal beam team card. And this is all his 92, 93 stadium cards. That's a great card. That's a great, I, I had, that was these guys. And I just remember pulling this card once or twice. I remember other people in the stress card was like a chase, a huge chase bag. It's still, it's not a chase anymore, but it's still a huge card. Like if I'm looking in a showcase, whether it be at the national or any show for that matter, it always draws my attention and brings back all those memories of my store days and custom opening plenty of, of stadium club, not just because it's also his rookie year too. So his rookie base cards were also in, in this release as well. This set.

12:31 So you had top stadium club series one, series two came in one set and you got the members only set, which was, I believe a bill in and a hobby store only and, That just sold for almost $ 5, 000, a sealed set. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't bid on it. I really wanted it. But even if I had the cash to bid on it, I would just be worried about taking out the cards and having them bricked. Because I remember a year after I bought these cards, I went to go– well, actually the football cards. I went to go put them in order, and they started sticking even then. Yeah. I almost voted for the Shaq. I almost voted for the Shaq. I did it. but it was on the cusp.

13:13 And I just, that card did pretty well last year on the ballot. If I'm not mistaken. I mean, yeah, I wouldn't be shocked. It wouldn't knock my one. It wouldn't shock me if it gets in Ray. I think definitely a huge candidate. 93, 94 flair, ultra scoring Kings, MJ, another car that's currently popping like, like crazy, especially in high grade. Stuff right now. I, this, this is a classic classic car. This is a great card. Um, But, you know, you could almost vote every Jordan card in right now. So I didn't vote for this. Again, I'm not saying it's not worthy, but I just I tried to buck the trend just because right now, for whatever reason, Jordan's just on fire. All right.

13:58 Time for a quick break. But we'll be right back. I'll be hotline. Is the hobby's only live interactive call-in show. Join some of your favorite hobby personalities every Saturday, 11 a.m. Eastern, 8 a.m. Pacific, to discuss the hottest hobby topics. If you miss us live, catch us after the fact on all major podcast platforms. Follow us on socials at Hobby Hotline. Thanks for sticking with us. Let's return to the show.

14:39 I believe it's going to be no for the next two? No. Is that a good guess? Yeah, finest Garnett rookie, no. And Allen Iverson, top scrum, no. How about the PMB? PMG. I think we got a typo. I think people will figure out. I think people will figure out. The editor's fired. Here's the thing. It's the same reason I didn't vote for the scoring king. I didn't vote for this. Again, it may very well get in. Again, votes are personal preference. We could vote for four Michael Jordan cards and call it a day. That's too easy. I didn't vote for it, but I'm sure we'll get plenty of votes without mine.

15:26 I know this doesn't take into account or it's not related to the ballot, but I do have a prediction that if a PSA 4, 5, or 6 PMG Green Emerald comes up for auction, I think it's going to hit the $ 30 million mark. That's my projection. What about the Prism Jewel? I had a request from my buddy Holmes. He was like, Prism Jewel, Jordan. I'm not familiar with that one, but I'm not sure if either of you guys are. I'm thinking it might be a Pacific release. Pacific did a lot of those. Yeah. Weird card.

16:07 I love Holmesy, but he's got to stick with baseball. He knows his stuff, man. I know he does. I'm just kidding. Jim's a great guy. Jim's a great guy. 97 Tops, Chrome, Tim Duncan, rookie card. Man, this was tough. It's funny. Now that I see the card, I remember sort of what was going through my mind. This card I had sort of with the Ewing. And I'm like, man, you could go either way here, John, me talking to myself in my head. I think I went with the Ewing because he predates Duncan. Like this card, I think I'll eventually vote for this card. I think I gave Ewing the nod over this Duncan card. just on the timeline, the chronological order of being a center in the NBA. They're both worthy. They're both Hall of Fame players themselves. Duncan's got more rings and that counts too.

17:05 I just gave Ewing, maybe it's as simple as the Knicks winning the title for the first time in like ultra decades. And I'm like, you know what? I'm going to vote for Ewing. Right. Next year I'll vote for Duncan. Ewing's a great player. Yeah, I mean, and he was hobby popular there for a couple years in the 1980s, especially coming out of Georgetown. So I believe that leaves three cards left. We got the 98 chrome Vince Carter. This is a new card. Actually, four cards. Yeah, this is a new card. The 97 upper deck game jersey Michael Jordan, which is the very first time MJ had a jersey patch on a card.

17:48 And this comes in two versions, signed and unsigned. Any of these two get your votes? I did. That's my last pick. I did vote for one Jordan card. And I just think. It's hard to stay away from him. Yeah. It really is. It's just a great card. One I'll never actually own. But maybe the unautographed one. Maybe the unautographed one. But.... This is the early days. Today, jersey cards aren't even a big deal anymore. Back in 97, this was a big deal. It's actually obviously worth more today than in 97, but it was still a big deal. Jersey cards in themselves were a big deal. This was the early provenance of game-used jersey cards in packs. I almost gave it the nod guys for the, for that, rather than it being a Jordan, obviously being a Jordan, put it over the top, but just when you combine all the elements, the early stages of, of game use cards and packs and Jordan and the potential to have a full one, that's actually autographed on top of that as well. I voted for this. I almost felt like if I didn't vote for Jordan card, I'd almost be doing a disservice then skipping on all of them. So this was the one I, the fourth one.

19:11 Okay. And John, do you remember where this patch came from? Which one of Jordan's jerseys? I don't, but you're going to tell me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. When I had to do research for the card, cause this was a, recommendation to be included in on the ballot last year it's from the 92 nba all-star game and do you remember what makes that game. A little bit popular i do i do yeah i know you do i do i do call me up on. The solid i'm gonna guess was it the magic johnson game. That's it Bingo. Bingo. Yeah. I thought so, but I wasn't 100%. After the HIV diagnosis. He's still going. And, Liz, I don't want to make this a medical show, but they don't even talk about that.

20:01 Yeah. I mean, I guess he's all right. What happened? Good. I'm glad. I'm not rooting for his demise. I mean, it's almost 40 years ago. Well, listen. I'll ask you, I'll open this question to you guys. When that whole thing came to light, and the announcement, and the press conference, and I'm glad it didn't happen, but did you think at the time, like, he's probably going to pass away? Absolutely. This was still a relatively new thing, you know? It was only a few years into the world. People, you saw pictures of skinny people sick in beds, and then they pass away. And so you thought, man, oh, it's like a bad diagnosis. Like, this is the end. And here we are in 2026. Yeah. This was a shocking story.

20:42 This wasn't sports news. This was on regular news affiliate. Yeah. So here we are in 2026. And thank God the radio was all over. Yeah. Thank God. It was all over the radio driving home. It was 24-7 magic. It was huge. And the announcement was only less than two years than that. Thanks, Denzel Washington film, Philadelphia, too. Yeah. So, yeah. I mean, that's a great movie. Yeah, so if folks want to take a turn down memory lane to see how society was towards HIV and AIDS back then, check out that film. Tom Hanks.

21:23 And that film, we all know Tom Hanks now. He's an icon, a Hollywood legend. I think that was the film that pushed him into that sphere. It wasn't his first movie by any means. It was a serious movie. It showed he was capable of playing that kind of character. He always kind of played some comedic roles. Prior to that. Going from big and. Splash. And then he starred on Most of the Buddies. I think Philadelphia showed his true acting. It launched him. Without a doubt. Just to recap, Mr. Newman voted for the Akeem Olajuwon rookie card, the Barkley from the same set, Chuck, the 86 flair, Patrick Ewing.

22:09 And right here, I'm like, you better slow down. There's more cards. Yeah, right. And then we have the final vote, which we spent a lot of time talking about, the 87 upper deck game jersey patch card. Not only a patch, but a swatch card. Yeah, 97. Yeah, so let's go into the... Vintage. So here we'll pick four cards. I'm going to keep scrolling until we get to your first one. Name each one. We don't have to necessarily talk at length, but that way people watching or listening at least know who's on the ballot before they get there. That's why I'm happy you're on the. Show because sometimes you got radio.

22:50 Well, because you're thinking about the podcast listeners also, um, in your car driving to 33 Gowdy, Nat Holman, which is some folks consider this the first basketball card. Uh, he played for the Boston Celtics before they became the official Boston Celtics that we know of today. Um, there were some basketball cards in 19, uh, in the 1920s, which were Olympic cards and a few others, um, And we had 36 Olympic card basketball cards. But no, this was the first true basketball card that people recognize. Yeah. And it's gone expensive too lately, ever since we had the first Hall of Fame ballot induction. 57 Tops, Bob Cousy.

23:33 Yeah, I voted for the Cousy, guys. Great card. I'm not a Celtics fan growing up in New York City, but Even growing up in New York City, and even though he was retired by the time I was watching basketball, Bob Cousy was the first true superstar point guard, if you will. Could pass, could shoot, was even not a terrible rebounder, would get in there and mix it up. He's not a big guy, obviously. He's another guy that I don't think gets enough credit when we look at the modern day game. And so Koozie was an early legend to me. I love rookie cards. I saw this on the ballot. I know everyone can't get in. I looked at who got in last year. No arguments there.

24:26 I voted for Koozie for this year. My first memory of Koozie was in the movie Blue Chips. You stole my thunder, man. I was just about to say that. I swear to God, I was just about to say, before you move on, who thinks of the movie Blue Chips? The scene where Nick Nolte and he's shooting the free throws and he says, don't you ever miss. And he's making a hundred thousand in a row underhanded. He's a legend. He's a legend. And we talked about rings. He's got a lot of rings. He sure does. He's the Yogi Berra of basketball with all the rings he's got. Yeah, that's a good analogy. Yeah. Along with Russell. A lot of his Celtic players.

25:07 All right. I want to thank Ray and Tony. for going over with the Basketball Card Hall of Fame, the candidates. I love what those guys are doing. You know, they got basketball, they got football, they got baseball as well. And, you know, they let the hobbyists vote. The collectors have the final say. Matter of fact, if anyone involved in the endeavor, they're not allowed to vote. So it's you out there that gets to vote. So I encourage everyone to get their votes in. Make your voices and your votes count. This was part one. So Tony and Ray will be back just next week. And we'll keep going over the candidates.

25:57 But you can see them ahead of time. They're all on the site for voting. So if you didn't catch it during the show, it is in the show notes. So please click on the link in the show notes. And go vote. Or, if you want, wait until next week. Come back and hear what we've got to say. But, again, make sure your vote counts. Time for our Hobby is the People, announcer of the week. Hey, everyone. This is Alex here from Relics Cards and Collectibles in Toronto, representing the Relics Squad. I just want to remind everyone the hobby is the people.

26:38 If you'd like to be the hobby is the people announcer of the week, do a WAV or MP3 file and send it to sportscardnationpc at gmail.com.