Allen Iverson pulls a card of his hero, NBA legends draw crowd on Day 3 of the National Sports Collectors Convention

ROSEMONT, Ill. — NBA legend Allen Iverson was walking on air Friday when he arrived at the Fanatics Live booth at the National Sports Collectors Convention.

The 11-time All-Star and 2001 league MVP was in town to chase a hero. Iverson was in the house to participate in a box break with Fanatics CEO and former Philadelphia 76ers owner Michael Rubin.

They were about to crack open a box of 1986 Fleer Basketball cards, and his idol was the chase card.

“MJ is my hero,” Iverson said of NBA great Michael Jordan, whose prized rookie card was likely in the box. “I think he’s the greatest player of all time. … He seems like a superhero to me, he doesn’t seem real.”

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Iverson recalls meeting Jordan late in his career.

“I told him I loved him,” Iverson said. “He said, ‘you must not love me too much, you pulled that crossover on me.’”

The 1986 Fleer set is filled with Pro Basketball Hall of Famers but Jordan’s rookie is by far the most valuable. A PSA 10 sold for a record $1 million at auction last year and is still valued at more than $150,000. It’s worth around $20,000 in a PSA 9 grade.

Rubin sweetened the pot for Iverson and one lucky collector before the break, pledging to buy the card for $150,000 and give it to Iverson if they pulled one.

NSCC Coverage: Jeter, Jordan and a huge crowd on Day 2 of The National 

They wound up pulling three Jordan rookies and, true to his word, Rubin immediately struck a deal with the lucky winner of pack number four, buying the card for Iverson. Rubin quickly sleeved the card and sent it across the convention center to be graded by PSA.

But no matter the grade, Iverson was now the proud owner of a rookie card of his hero and idol.

“That’s now my favorite card, and my hero. I’m definitely going to have it in my man cave,” he said.

The show floor was packed again Friday, with nearly every isle in the dealer areas filled with collectors looking for deals. The corporate booths were also busy, with card companies giving away cards and auction houses and card sellers showing off their hottest new collectibles.

But the biggest crowd was at the TRISTAR Autograph Pavilion, which was packed for a star-studded lineup loaded with Hall of Famers and popular signers, from Emmitt Smith and Eric Dickerson to NHL legend Jaromir Jagr.

NSCC: Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin walks show floor, share vision for hobby 

But two of the biggest draws were a pair of basketball legends — Dr. J Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

While Dr. J is a regular at The National, Abdul-Jabbar, 76, has not done a lot of public signings recently due to a host of health issues, including leukemia, prostate cancer and heart bypass surgery. He signed for a long line of fans and autograph seekers, drawing such a crowd that he was surrounded by TRISTAR officials and employees while he signed.

Topps also hosted a popular event at the active Fanatics booth Friday, bringing in Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith. The Wizard signed cards and posed for photos with collectors before heading over to the autograph pavilion for another scheduled signing.

He wasn’t the only Hall of Fame shortstop in the house. Alan Trammell was one several Baseball Hall of Famers signing on Thursday, joining Ryne Sandberg, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, Jeff Bagwell, Chipper Jones and Jim Kaat.

Trammell was one of the friendliest and most engaging signers I saw, chatting with fans and even thanking them for coming to see him.

Two years ago in Chicago, I had the pleasure of chatting briefly with Chipper Jones, one of my all-time favorite players. It was trade deadline day when Chipper was signing, so I asked him if the Braves planned to make any moves.

He told me they had traded for both Jorge Soler and Adam Duvall, and he believed they were also trying to add Eddie Rosario. A few hours later, the Braves announced all three moves. Duval wound up having a huge second half, Rosario was the NLCS MVP and Soler was the World Series MVP as the Braves won their first title since Jones led them to the 1995 championship.

I saw Chipper again on Friday and reminded him of that. “Who are we getting this time?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said, “but we need a closer. If we can get a closer, we’ll be alright.”

If they trade for a closer and win the World Series again, I’ll remember that Chipper called it.

One of the fans Jones signed for Friday was Braves fan Josh Cheatwood of Peachtree, Ga. and his son, Josh Jr.

“He’s one of my favorite players, and I’ve passed it along to him,” Cheatwood said of his son. And since Josh Jr. also plays third base, his favorite players are Jones and Wade Boggs. They came to the National to get autographs from both.

“It was really cool,” Josh Jr. said.

Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg drew a big crowd at the autograph pavilion Friday morning, and in the afternoon another Cubs favorite showed up.

All-Star catcher Jody Davis walked in wearing a Georgia Bulldogs national championship hat. 

The Gainesville, Ga. native finished his career in Atlanta with the Braves and has remained in Georgia, where he is a big Bulldogs fan.

“I got to 12 games last year, and I hope to get to that many this year,” he said.

Another one of the friendliest autograph signers I saw was former NFL MVP and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Kurt Warner.

Warner, who produced one of the greatest Cinderella stories in NFL history, lived up to his reputation as a class guy, engaging with fans and going out of his way to please everyone.

“I love it,” Warner said. “I love meeting the fans. You don’t get to do that much when you are playing. I love to see their passion, so I’m glad to do this. It’s fun.”

Famous athletes weren’t the only legends at the convention on Friday. Baseball Hall of Fame artist Dick Perez, who painted the famous Diamond Kings art cards, met with fans and signed autographs at the Robert Edward Auctions booth.

Perez has been featured in Sports Collectors Digest many times over the years and readers always enjoy seeing his work and reading about his amazing talent. I have a couple of copies of Perez’s beautiful book: “The Immortals, An Art Collection of Baseball’s Best.” I could spend hours soaking up the glorious renderings of some of the game’s greatest players. A timeless treasure, flipping through its pages is like a walk through baseball history.

So it was a pleasure to finally meet Perez on Friday, thank him for his great work and contributions to baseball and the hobby, and watch him graciously accept the gratitude of many fans.

One of the greatest joys of being at events like The National is meeting subscribers and longtime readers who still enjoy Sports Collectors Digest.

The publication is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year and it’s always nice to run into subscribers who have been reading and supporting the publication for years.

Kevin Savage Cards has graciously allowed us to provide free copies of our special National Preview issue at his booth for the last few years. I was hanging out at Kevin’s booth Friday, checking out some cards at the end of the day, when a couple of longtime SCD readers walked up.

“Wow, look at this. Sports Collectors Digest, I’ve been reading this for years,” one of the readers said. “Can I have one of these?”

“Well, sure,” I said, and handed them two copies.

We then chatted for a few minutes about the history of the magazine and how both hobbyists had been reading it for years.

It’s moments like those that make the long days and navigating the big crowds worth it.