Giannis Antetokounmpo Collects Own Basketball Cards? What Does This Mean for the Hobby?

Recently, Giannis Antetokounmpo showed a video on Tik Tok of him with all the basketball cards he has been collecting.  What's most surprising is they are all his cards! 

Let me give you 3 reasons why this is a big deal for the card collecting hobby.

#1

Brings instant validity to the card market. When the biggest names in the sport are collecting cards, it gives the card collecting industry instant credibility.  Fans see this and say “wow, that must be a real legit thing.”  Imagine if Babe Ruth started collecting autographed baseballs?  How many fans would have been doing the same thing?  A TON!  The autograph market would look totally different today had that been the case.  Would be more collectors into the hobby.

#2

This is the best marketing you can have. Players showing off cards of themselves to their millions of followers will increase the popularity of those cards x 10.  Players are the best selling tools for their own products.  We already know the NBA is light years ahead of NFL and MLB on social media.  The league and players following is HUGE!  Very similar marketing when you do an autograph signing and a player makes a post saying they did a signing with you.  Best marketing you can do.  Automatically brings credibility to your signing and reaches the exact demographic you are trying to sell your products to.  Easy and free marketing for the card industry.

#3

Brings even more authenticity to the card market.  Giannis showing off cards he had previously autographed shows they are legit autographs.  Obviously, he remembers signing them.  Authenticity is always the biggest battle when it comes to selling anything that's autographed and has not been signed in front of the customer.  A player says “Yup, I signed that” is the best authenticity you can have.