Few classic basketball card units pack as a lot punch because the 1972 Topps basketball card set.
Rookie playing cards of Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore, Phil Jackson, and George McGinnis anchor a star-studded guidelines that’s loaded with Corridor of Famers.
And the design is immediately recognizable…
Vibrant colours, workforce names that develop more and more bigger throughout the underside, and nice imagery supply collectors a lot eye attraction to take pleasure in.
Of all the good classic basketball card units accessible to gather, this one is well considered one of my favorites.
And, on this information, I will run via the fifteen most dear.
Let’s leap proper in!
1972 Topps #195 Julius Erving Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $25,000
As a result of it is one of the crucial recognizable classic basketball playing cards of all time, there isn’t any shock that the Julius Erving rookie card is the costliest on this set.
For sixteen seasons throughout each the ABA and NBA, Julius Erving dominated opposing defenders along with his unbelievable athletic capability and flashy strikes.
His fashion of play is credited for influencing so many gamers who adopted in his footsteps, one thing that few different basketball gamers in historical past can declare.
Whether or not Dr. J was leaping from the free-throw line, slashing via the paint, or going up and below opposing defenders, it was practically unimaginable to maintain him from scoring.
Over his profession, Erving averaged 24.7 factors per sport, led the league in scoring 3 times, and poured in 30,026 whole factors throughout the ABA and NBA to place him at eighth on the all-time scoring record.
Erving set a career-high by scoring 31.9 factors per sport through the 1972-73 marketing campaign with the Virginia Squires, however that 12 months began a lot shakier than it ended.
Due to a dispute with the Squires forward of the season, Erving had signed a contract to play for the Atlanta Hawks.
And, on the identical time, the Milwaukee Bucks had drafted him with the twelfth decide of the NBA Draft that 12 months (simply think about if he had performed alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson in Milwaukee).
Ultimately, a court docket enforced his contract with the Squires, with whom he performed that second 12 months of his profession earlier than the workforce bought his contract to the New York Nets.
1972 Topps #100 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $2,750
After back-to-back scoring titles and NBA MVP awards in 1970-71 and 1971-72, 25-year-old Milwaukee Bucks middle Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dominated the basketball world.
Nonetheless, a dispiriting six-game loss to the Los Angeles Lakers within the 1972 Western Convention Finals left Abdul-Jabbar wanting extra.
Abdul-Jabbar stored his foot on the gasoline through the 1972-73 common season, ending second within the NBA scoring title race behind Sacramento’s Tiny Archibald with 30.2 factors per sport.
That efficiency put Abdul-Jabbar alongside teammate Oscar Robertson and Lakers famous person Wilt Chamberlain as the one gamers in NBA historical past to common 30 factors or extra in three-straight seasons.
Abdul-Jabbar was a mannequin of effectivity within the submit all season lengthy as his 55.4% discipline objective share was the most effective among the many league’s high-volume shooters.
His total efficiency positioned him as runner-up to Boston Celtics double-double machine Dave Cowens for the MVP Award.
Led by their all-world massive man, the proficient Bucks confronted off towards the underdog Golden State Warriors within the first spherical.
Nonetheless, Golden State’s Nate Thurmond stifled Abdul-Jabbar, slicing 8 factors and 12 % off his points-per-game and discipline objective share totals, respectively.
The Warriors completed one of the crucial spectacular postseason upsets in NBA historical past with a convincing 100-86 win in Sport 6.
1972 Topps #32 Phil Jackson Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $2,250
Phil Jackson’s basketball IQ helped him rewrite the NBA report books with 11 championships as a head coach.
It did not damage his success as a participant both.
After spinal fusion surgical procedure, Jackson missed the New York Knicks’ run to the 1970 NBA title, however the 27-year-old energy ahead was considered one of New York’s most dear reserves through the 1972-73 marketing campaign.
In 17.4 minutes per sport, Jackson averaged 8.1 factors and 4.3 rebounds whereas enjoying top-level protection towards the opposition’s entrance court docket threats.
His minute whole elevated to 19.9 per sport within the playoffs, and Jackson answered the bell, posting averages of 8.7 factors and 4.2 rebounds whereas including much more defensive grit to a workforce that already had lots.
The season ended with Jackson’s second official title as a participant.
However, it was truthfully his first actual style of championship nirvana as knowledgeable.
Years later, as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, he’d style it once more, and once more, and once more.
1972 Topps #1 Wilt Chamberlain
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $2,000
The 1972-73 season was Wilt Chamberlain’s final 12 months on the court docket, nevertheless it wasn’t speculated to be that approach.
Chamberlain’s utilization price reached its nadir in his closing season, with a drop from 33.6 pictures per sport at his peak (1964-65) to simply 7.1.
Nonetheless, he picked his spots with a precision by no means seen earlier than as his 72.7% discipline objective share set a brand new NBA benchmark, surpassing his personal report by over 4 p.c (68.3%, 1966-67).
Chamberlain averaged 13.2 factors and 18.6 rebounds, ending the common season along with his eleventh rebounding title.
And regardless of a slew of accidents to prime contributors like Jerry West and Completely satisfied Hairston, the Lakers rode Chamberlain to 60 wins and a visit to the NBA Finals.
At 36 years of age, Chamberlain was a drive towards New York as he practically averaged a 20/20 for the sequence, posting 19.4 factors and 23.2 rebounds per contest.
Nonetheless, the depleted Lakers did not have sufficient firepower to remain round with a wholesome, decided Knicks squad, shedding in 5.
Within the offseason, the ABA’s San Diego Conquistadors signed Chamberlain as a participant/coach, however the issue was that the Lakers nonetheless had an choice 12 months left on his NBA deal.
Los Angeles efficiently sued Chamberlain, barring him from enjoying for the Conquistadors.
Nonetheless, he stayed on as their coach in identify largely, assigning many of the precise day-to-day teaching duties to assistant Stan Albeck.
San Diego completed 37-47 in entrance of simply 1,843 followers a sport, and Chamberlain formally retired as knowledgeable basketball participant following the season.
1972 Topps #183 George McGinnis Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $1,800
Indiana Pacers energy ahead turned the heads of NBA executives with marquee regular-season and postseason performances on ABA courts across the nation through the 1972-73 season.
McGinnis averaged a double-double with 27.6 factors and 12.5 rebounds whereas enjoying 40.8 minutes per sport.
That degree of manufacturing was greater than sufficient to earn McGinnis his first ABA All-Star nod.
The defending champion Pacers completed 51-33 and regarded to their younger star to make their repeat desires a actuality because the playoffs drew nearer.
And McGinnis obliged.
In 18 playoff video games, he averaged 23.9 factors, 12.3 rebounds, and a pair of.2 assists.
This included 27 factors, seven rebounds, and an help within the workforce’s Sport 7 overcome Kentucky within the ABA Finals.
McGinnis regarded like the most effective participant on the court docket in each postseason contest he performed.
His scoring prowess and passing intuition ignited run after run in Indiana’s march to back-to-back championships.
For his efforts, McGinnis was named ABA Playoffs MVP and inside three years, he’d be within the NBA.
1972 Topps #255 Julius Erving All-Star
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $1,400
Throughout Erving’s rookie debut within the 1971-72 season, he averaged 27.3 factors, 4 assists, and a career-high 15.7 factors per sport.
He wasted no time in making his mark on the league.
Due to his unbelievable play, he earned his first of sixteen straight All-Star choices.
This All-Star card options an incredible motion shot of Dr. J crusing via the air for the rating whereas two New York Nets defenders look on helplessly within the background.
The East blew out the West 142-115 within the 1972 ABA All-Star Sport with Erving contributing 20 factors, six rebounds and three assists within the successful effort.
1972 Topps #5 Pete Maravich
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $1,300
After lacking sixteen video games as a result of harm in his sophomore season, Atlanta Hawks capturing guard Pete Maravich was a lot more healthy in 1972-73.
His improved well being helped put a tentative sophomore stoop behind him to safe the primary All-Star choice of his Corridor-of-Fame profession.
Maravich refined the theatrical factor of his sport, upping his efficiency as a scorer and a playmaker within the course of as he completed fifth in NBA with 26.1 factors and a career-best 6.9 assists per sport.
The Second Workforce All-NBA performer comprised one-half of the league’s finest scoring duo alongside Lou Hudson, who completed fourth within the league at 27.1 factors per contest.
Hudson was the right yin to Maravich’s yang as he tandem led Atlanta to a 46-36 report, the one successful season of Maravich’s prime.
The Hawks completed second to the Baltimore Bullets within the Central Division, drawing the juggernaut Boston Celtics within the first spherical of the playoffs.
Hudson and Maravich mixed for just below 56 factors per sport towards Boston, nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient.
Boston received three video games by not less than 13 factors, dispatching the pesky Hawks in six.
1972 Topps #163 Kareem Abdul Jabbar All-Star
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $1,300
Through the 1972 NBA All-Star Sport, the West barely squeaked out a victory over the East, successful 112-110.
Abdul-Jabbar chipped in twelve factors, seven rebounds and two assists through the nineteen minutes throughout his third-straight All-Star look.
When the 1971-72 season got here to a detailed, Abdul-Jabbar sat atop the scoring leaderboard for the second season in a row as he paced the league with an eye-popping 34.8 factors per sport, a private finest.
His 16.6 rebounds per sport had been the second-highest of his legendary profession and his total manufacturing made him a straightforward selection for his second MVP Award in as a few years.
The motion shot on this card is among the finest in your entire set as Topps captured Abdul-Jabbar in the midst of considered one of his iconic sky hook pictures over none apart from Wilt Chamberlain.
1972 Topps #180 Artis Gilmore Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $1,000
Kentucky Colonels middle Artis Gilmore did not play an NBA sport till after the ABA disbanded in 1976.
Nonetheless, he did maintain his personal in a 1972 Supergame towards a digital NBA Corridor-of-Fame squad.
Up towards seven future Corridor of Famers and a number of the finest gamers in basketball historical past, Artis Gilmore did not flinch.
He completed the sport with 14 factors on 5-of-7 capturing, outperforming Wilt Chamberlain within the course of.
The ABA misplaced the sport, 106-104.
But, Gilmore gained credibility and loads of confidence that he parlayed right into a stellar 1972-73 marketing campaign for the Colonels.
The 23-year-old massive man led the ABA in field-goal share (55.9%) whereas averaging 20.8 factors and 17.6 rebounds per sport.
Through the playoffs, Gilmore averaged 19.0 factors and 13.7 rebounds per sport and pushed the Colonels to the precipice of a championship.
In Sport 7 of the ABA Finals towards the Indiana Pacers, Gilmore scored 19 factors and grabbed 17 boards.
Frustratingly, the remainder of the Colonels could not again him up, and the Pacers received the sport and the title, 88-81.
1972 Topps #25 Oscar Robertson
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $800
For ten years, Oscar Robertson was a one-man wrecking machine for the Cincinnati Royals, doing all the pieces to assist his workforce win.
He was all over the place on offense and practically averaged a triple-double in every of his first 5 seasons.
And he truly did common a triple-double through the 1961-62 season, turning into the primary participant to take action as he turned in 30.8 factors, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists per sport.
Regardless of his efforts, he by no means did discover championship glory with the Royals.
After which, surprisingly, the workforce traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks forward of the 1970-71 season and his fortunes rotated solely.
Robertson instantly received a championship ring that 12 months because the pairing of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and him was simply an excessive amount of for opposing groups to deal with.
Throughout his first two seasons with the Bucks, Robertson was an All-Star annually, however his streak of twelve-straight All-Star appearances got here to a halt through the 1972-73 marketing campaign.
After the 1973-74 season, his fourteenth in skilled basketball, Robertson retired and left a legacy as probably the greatest all-around gamers within the sport’s historical past.
1972 Topps #75 Jerry West
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $750
Legendary Lakers guard Jerry West lastly acquired his ring in 1972 however, he wasn’t proud of how he acquired it.
“I performed horrible basketball within the Finals, and we received,” West stated later. “It was notably irritating as a result of I used to be enjoying so poorly that the workforce overcame me.”
With an added chip on his shoulder within the twilight of his profession, West attacked the 1972-73 marketing campaign with vigor.
With Gail Goodrich serving because the workforce’s new main scorer, West continued to flourish as a facilitator.
And as traditional, The Brand was a minimize above the remaining.
West averaged 22.8 factors, 8.8 assists, and 4.2 rebounds in 35.7 minutes per sport.
He missed 13 video games to accidents and relaxation however earned first-team choices to the All-NBA and All-Defensive groups.
He additionally earned his Thirteenth-straight All-Star workforce choice. In 17 playoff video games, West averaged 23.6 factors, 7.8 assists, and 4.5 rebounds.
It ended painfully, although, as he strained each of his hamstrings within the NBA Finals.
He gritted via the ache however did not have his regular legs beneath him. New York acquired revenge for the earlier 12 months’s Finals loss, successful the sequence in 5.
1972 Topps #60 Walt Frazier
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $650
The 1972-73 NBA season was the primary full 12 months for the famed “Rolls-Royce backcourt.”
Early the season earlier than, the New York Knicks acquired Frazier’s long-time rival, Earl Monroe, through a commerce with Baltimore.
Now, they made up maybe the most effective defensive backcourt duo in NBA historical past.
Their personalities complemented one another, as did their enjoying kinds.
“He is fireplace and I am ice,” Frazier stated of Monroe on the time.
With Monroe at his aspect, Frazier hit one more degree and averaged 21.1 factors, a career-best 7.3 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 40.8 minutes per sport.
He locked down opposing guards with energetic arms and unparalleled instincts, incomes his fifth-straight choice to the NBA’s All-Defensive First Workforce.
He additionally earned his fourth-straight All-Star nod and a spot on the All-NBA second workforce.
The Knicks suffocated the opposition, pacing the NBA with simply 98.2 factors allowed per contest.
It carried over to the NBA Finals and, when the mud settled, Frazier had his second (and closing) championship ring.
1972 Topps #168 Wilt Chamberlain All-Star
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $550
At 35 years outdated, Wilt Chamberlain might not have been the identical man who as soon as averaged 50.4 factors and 25.7 rebounds in a single season.
However, he was nonetheless Wilt Chamberlain…
And, he performed properly sufficient through the 1971-72 season to earn his twelfth All-Star choice.
Coming off the bench, Chamberlain scored eight factors and led the West with ten rebounds as they barely edged the East in a 112-110 victory.
1972 Topps #263 ABA Rebound Leaders
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $500
Not solely does this card function three Corridor of Famers, nevertheless it additionally options two of the highest rookies on this set in Artis Gilmore and Julius Erving, giving it an enormous increase in worth.
As rookies through the 1971-72 season, Gilmore and Erving averaged 17.8 and 15.7 rebounds per sport, respectively, whereas veteran Mel Daniels chimed in with 16.4 per contest.
Daniels and Gilmore continued to be a number of the prime rebounders within the sport all through their careers.
However, Erving grew to become often called extra of a scoring menace because the years wore on, by no means topping his rebounding output throughout his rookie season.
1972 Topps #237 Rick Mount
Estimated PSA 9 Mint Worth: $400
Former two-time consensus First-Workforce All-American Rick Mount is among the what-ifs of the 1976 NBA/ABA merger.
With LSU’s Pete Maravich and UCLA’s Lew Alcindor grabbing all the headlines in faculty, Mount’s Herculean scoring efforts at Purdue by no means led to a Nationwide Participant of the Yr award.
He was nonetheless a marquee professional prospect, however not like Maravich and Alcindor, Mount selected the ABA over the NBA.
In 1971-72, Mount blossomed right into a unbelievable secondary scoring menace with the Indiana Pacers, averaging 14.3 factors a sport and serving to the workforce to an ABA title.
With a crowded backcourt rotation, the Pacers maximized their worth by buying and selling Mount to the Kentucky Colonels within the offseason.
Regardless of battling accidents, Mount was a supply of prompt offense as he averaged 14.9 factors in 29.2 minutes per sport through the common season.
Although Kentucky fell within the ABA Finals, the longer term regarded vivid for Mount.
And if issues had gone in another way, he may have been a Los Angeles Laker.
In any case, that they had his contract rights after deciding on him within the eighth spherical of the 1970 NBA Draft.
Nonetheless, a shoulder dislocation suffered through the 1974-75 ABA season minimize Mount’s profession quick earlier than the merger occurred.
1972 Topps Basketball Playing cards In Overview
That includes a number of key rookie playing cards and loads of Corridor of Famers, the 1972 Topps basketball set stays one of the crucial fascinating of any classic basketball set.
Whereas the guidelines could also be small at simply 264 playing cards, there’s simply a lot star energy to be discovered inside.
Inside it, there have been additionally a number of totally different subsets, together with:
- NBA Playoffs (#154 – 159)
- NBA Leaders (#171 – 176)
- ABA Playoffs (#241 – 247)
- ABA Leaders (#259 – 264)
And, the design is immediately recognizable.
For these collectors looking out for excellent Corridor of Famers of the period, key rookie playing cards, and nice visible attraction, this set has all of it.
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