Spotrac reports that Cooper Flagg will earn $14,517,480 in the second season of his four-year rookie contract with the Dallas Mavericks. That figure sounds like a bargain, given how he embraced the role of being the leader of a rebuilding franchise.
But what doesn’t sound like a bargain is the final sale price for Flagg’s one-of-one 2026 Topps Chrome Updates NBA Debut Patch autographed card. Fanatics Collect revealed that it sold for $8,040,000 (including buyer’s premium) at their September 25 online auction.
The card received 83 bids before becoming the fifth most expensive sports card sold in public and the third most expensive NBA trading card of all time. Likewise, the one-of-a-kind card easily trumped the previous record for the most expensive Cooper Flagg card ever sold ($366,000 for his 2025-26 Topps Chrome Sapphire Padparadscha 1-of-1 autographed card).
There was much conversation revolving around this card, which features Flagg’s signature and a patch from the jersey he wore during his NBA debut on October 22, 2025, against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Mavericks wanted so much to get their hands on this card that they offered a king’s ransom to whoever possessed it. Eventually, Jason Williams, a card collector from South Carolina, paid $515 for all Dallas Mavericks cards in an online break by Rhode Island-based Rhody Breakers.
The exquisite Flagg card was inside a 2025-26 Topps Chrome Updates Basketball hobby box that Rhody Breakers opened last August. Williams eventually met Flagg during the opening of the latter’s card shop in Maine.
Cooper Flagg’s Debut Patch Card Is More Expensive than the Salaries of These NBA Stars
What’s more fascinating about this Cooper Flagg card is that it is worth more than some popular NBA players will make this season, based on Spotrac’s numbers.
The most shocking of these comparisons is that four-time NBA MVP LeBron James will only make $3,876,529 in his first year with the Philadelphia 76ers, less than half of the $8.04 million sale price. Likewise, the Miami Heat will pay four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson only $5.6 million.
Speaking of NBA champions, the 2026-27 salaries of Payton Pritchard ($7,767,857), Al Horford ($6,822,000), and DeAndre Jordan ($3,876,529) are lower than the value of Flagg’s flagship card.
Finally, Flagg’s 1-of-1 card is worth more than what former All-Stars Bradley Beal ($6,424,800) and DeMar DeRozan ($2,449,421) will earn next season. The same card also has more value than the salary of defensive specialist Marcus Smart ($6,064,000) with the Houston Rockets.
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