LUX

The Lux Index

by LuxSportsCards · data-driven basketball card analytics · updated July 20, 2026
GOAT market data as of 2026-07-19 · refreshed monthly — legend prices move slowly, and PSA pops are frozen during the grading pause
The GOAT Index — The Forever Market
The basketball markets that outlive the box score, in three tiers. This is the Forever Market: cards you hold for decades, not trade — demand for these players compounds as the kids who watched them age into money. Everyone else is a flip.
Σ Grade Price × Pop = Legacy Market Cap

One flagship rookie card per legend, priced down the whole grade ladder. The market cap sums every graded copy in existence at its grade's price — the full addressable market, auditable, shown math. Pick the grade that fits your budget; every rung links to live eBay listings.

The Pantheon
The four markets the whole hobby reprices off.
Nº 1
Michael Jordan
1986 Fleer #57
Vintage, few to no other rookie cards
$531.3MLegacy Market Cap · full graded ladder
23,175 PSA 5+ copies · $22,925 avg per PSA 5+ copy
PSA 10$347,000pop 333Shop →
PSA 9$41,000pop 3,072Shop →
PSA 8$18,000pop 9,382Shop →
PSA 7$13,500pop 5,092Shop →
PSA 6$10,300pop 3,228Shop →
PSA 5$9,150pop 2,068Shop →
Legacy ThesisThe reserve currency of the entire hobby. Every card market on this site ultimately reprices off Jordan, and a pop in the low hundreds on the flagship makes scarcity do the work that hype does everywhere else.
Nº 2
LeBron James ACTIVE
2003-04 Topps #221
Many different rookie cards
$41.4MLegacy Market Cap · full graded ladder
22,914 PSA 5+ copies · $1,806 avg per PSA 5+ copy
PSA 10$6,800pop 2,801Shop →
PSA 9$1,552pop 9,305Shop →
PSA 8$838pop 6,527Shop →
PSA 7$625pop 2,034Shop →
PSA 6$550pop 1,559Shop →
PSA 5$415pop 688Shop →
Legacy ThesisThe volume king — the biggest pop, the deepest liquidity, the most watched market in the modern hobby. You don't buy LeBron for scarcity; you buy him because the market never closes.
Nº 3
Kobe Bryant
1996-97 Topps Chrome #138
Many different rookie cards
$21.9MLegacy Market Cap · full graded ladder
50,777 PSA 5+ copies · $432 avg per PSA 5+ copy
PSA 10$2,163pop 5,493Shop →
PSA 9$320pop 23,288Shop →
PSA 8$134pop 13,598Shop →
PSA 7$100pop 4,130Shop →
PSA 6$90pop 3,016Shop →
PSA 5$80pop 1,252Shop →
Legacy ThesisThe strongest emotional market in basketball. An entire generation's idea of obsession and craft, with demand that has already survived the ultimate test — it never came back down.
Nº 4
Stephen Curry ACTIVE
2009-10 Topps #321
Medium amount of different rookie cards
$20.7MLegacy Market Cap · full graded ladder
5,734 PSA 5+ copies · $3,608 avg per PSA 5+ copy
PSA 10$14,900pop 371Shop →
PSA 9$4,400pop 1,596Shop →
PSA 8$2,575pop 2,030Shop →
PSA 7$1,800pop 983Shop →
PSA 6$1,600pop 543Shop →
PSA 5$1,300pop 211Shop →
Legacy ThesisChanged the geometry of basketball — every kid shooting from the logo is compounding his legacy. Retirement will thin the supply of attention, not demand. The last of his era still writing the ending.
HOF Staples
The permanent collection — vintage scarcity and retired-great demand.
Nº 5
Shaquille O'Neal
1992-93 Topps #362
Many different rookie cards
$2.0MLegacy Market Cap · full graded ladder
36,089 PSA 5+ copies · $55 avg per PSA 5+ copy
PSA 10$215pop 5,784Shop →
PSA 9$30pop 20,297Shop →
PSA 8$15pop 8,215Shop →
PSA 7$12pop 1,793Shop →
Legacy ThesisThe most dominant physical force the sport ever produced, kept permanently famous by the biggest media presence of any retired athlete. Attention is the moat, and Shaq never stopped earning it.
Nº 6
Allen Iverson
1996-97 Topps Chrome #171
Many different rookie cards
$1.0MLegacy Market Cap · full graded ladder
15,105 PSA 5+ copies · $66 avg per PSA 5+ copy
PSA 10$170pop 4,020Shop →
PSA 9$35pop 7,403Shop →
PSA 8$18pop 2,546Shop →
PSA 7$18pop 720Shop →
PSA 6$6pop 416Shop →
Legacy ThesisCulture, not stats. Iverson is the hobby's crossover into music, fashion, and identity — a market that trades on what he meant, which is the only thing that never declines.
Nº 7
MJ
Magic Johnson
1980-81 Topps Bird/Erving/Johnson (shared RC)
Vintage, no other rookie
$59.1MLegacy Market Cap · full graded ladder
13,603 PSA 5+ copies · $4,347 avg per PSA 5+ copy
PSA 10$622,000pop 24Shop →
PSA 9$20,000pop 620Shop →
PSA 8$5,155pop 3,128Shop →
PSA 7$2,000pop 4,372Shop →
PSA 6$1,431pop 3,724Shop →
PSA 5$927pop 1,735Shop →
Legacy ThesisThe sport's greatest winner of hearts — Showtime is the aesthetic the league still sells. One shared rookie card with Bird makes the supply story permanent: two legacies, one piece of cardboard.
Nº 8
LB
Larry Bird
1980-81 Topps Bird/Erving/Johnson (shared RC)
Vintage, no other rookie
$59.1MLegacy Market Cap · full graded ladder
13,603 PSA 5+ copies · $4,347 avg per PSA 5+ copy
PSA 10$622,000pop 24Shop →
PSA 9$20,000pop 620Shop →
PSA 8$5,155pop 3,128Shop →
PSA 7$2,000pop 4,372Shop →
PSA 6$1,431pop 3,724Shop →
PSA 5$927pop 1,735Shop →
Legacy ThesisThe rivalry that saved the NBA, frozen in the same card as Magic. Bird collects the loyalty of an entire region and every shooter who came after — a market that never needed highlights to hold.
Nº 9
WC
Wilt Chamberlain
1961-62 Fleer #8
Vintage, no other rookie
$56.2MLegacy Market Cap · full graded ladder
1,026 PSA 5+ copies · $54,732 avg per PSA 5+ copy
PSA 10$976,000pop 33Shop →
PSA 9$190,000pop 33Shop →
PSA 8$45,000pop 185Shop →
PSA 7$9,750pop 248Shop →
PSA 6$6,600pop 287Shop →
PSA 5$21,000pop 240Shop →
Legacy ThesisThe record book is the thesis — 100 points is the one stat every fan on earth knows. A vintage market where mid-grades are the market, and even they are scarce.
Nº 10
KA
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1969-70 Topps #25
Vintage, no other rookie
$14.1MLegacy Market Cap · full graded ladder
2,482 PSA 5+ copies · $5,677 avg per PSA 5+ copy
PSA 10pop —Shop →
PSA 9$192,000pop 18Shop →
PSA 8$25,000pop 170Shop →
PSA 7$5,000pop 475Shop →
PSA 6$2,300pop 882Shop →
PSA 5$2,115pop 937Shop →
Legacy ThesisThe most underpriced résumé in basketball history: most MVPs ever, the unbreakable scoring record held for 39 years. When the market re-reads the résumé, there are only a few hundred cards to fight over.
Active Legends
Still writing the résumé — GOAT-priced before the jacket.
Nº 11
Nikola Jokic ACTIVE
2015-16 Prizm Silver RC
Synced from buyboard sheet 07-19
$1.7MLegacy Market Cap · full graded ladder
763 PSA 5+ copies · $2,215 avg per PSA 5+ copy
PSA 10$4,800pop 196Shop →
PSA 9$1,400pop 472Shop →
PSA 8$930pop 95Shop →
Legacy ThesisThe best basketball player of his generation, still priced like an argument instead of a verdict. Three MVPs in, the market is slowly conceding — that concession is the asset.
Nº 12
Giannis Antetokounmpo ACTIVE
2013-14 Prizm Silver RC
Carried from buyboard 07-10 — verify; add PSA8 if real
$872,700Legacy Market Cap · full graded ladder
189 PSA 5+ copies · $4,617 avg per PSA 5+ copy
PSA 10$7,100pop 87Shop →
PSA 9$2,500pop 102Shop →
Legacy ThesisA championship alpha with an immigrant-origin story that travels worldwide. Low flagship pop, global narrative, and a legacy that ends in Springfield — the market just hasn't finished the math.