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Rare 1948 George Mikan rookie card sets record in Goldin auction
Before Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell revolutionized basketball as the greatest NBA centers of all time, another big man paved the way.
George Mikan, a 6-10 center from Joliet, Ill. and DePaul University, dominated the NBA in the late 1940s and early ’50s. Mikan averaged 28.3, 27.4 and 28.4 points from 1948-51 and finished his seven-year career with averages of 23.1 points and 13.4 rebounds.
Just as Mikan descended on the NBA, Bowman produced the first official basketball card set. But unlike Mikan, Bowman basketball cards were short-lived, lasting only one year and making the 1948 Bowman set one of the most rare hoops sets on the market.
And the prize of the 1948 Bowman set was Mikan’s coveted rookie card. A 1948 Bowman George Mikan rookie card, graded PSA 9, sold for $800,000 last year on eBay, eclipsing the previous record by nearly $400,000.
A 1948 Mikan rookie, graded SGC MINT 9, just sold for $228,000 in the Goldin 100: Part 2 auction. The sale was a record for an SGC 9. According to Goldin, the card is the only known example of an SGC 9.
Also setting a record in the Goldin 100 auction was another historic basketball gem. A 1984-85 Star #101 Michael Jordan rookie card, graded PSA 8.5, sold for $144,000, a record for the card in a PSA 8.5 grade.
Another record-setter was a 1916 M101-4 Blank Back #151 Babe Ruth rookie card (SGC 1.5 FR 1.5), which sold for $288,000, another record for the grade.
