Collectors tearing into packs of Panini America‘s popular recent NBA arrival — 2017-18 Panini Prizm — might find something a little different.
Coaches cards … and that’s not all as there are even some rarer coach autographs to be found.
These iconic leaders, some former players and some future Hall of Famers, aren’t typically found on cardboard — at least in most sets — but they’re found here.
Coaches for all 30 NBA teams are on the base checklist and that means each of them has a full rainbow of Prizms. Only five of them made the cut for certified autographs, though — Steve Kerr, Scott Brooks, Jason Kidd, Tyronn Lue and Doc Rivers — and they’re all former players.
There are a few coaches who might be surprising pulls — and values — if they had ink here with their first certified autographs but on a limited basis this seems like a fun way to start. Yes, some collectors might bemoan a coach card in the place of a player on the checklist but it’s a meaty 300-card set so there are plenty of names in there, too.
San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich, for example, hasn’t ever appeared on a certified autograph and has fewer than 60 card appearances despite having NBA ties since the late 1980s. (This collector thinks his ink would be a big deal — just like his five NBA titles.) With this release he has his first cards since 2012-13 NBA Hoops and he’s got 26 cards in all to be found in Prizm alone. For fans of the franchise, that creates an immediate collecting challenge that includes two 1/1s and plenty of other rare parallels.
Sure, some coaches might not be as popular as others but they’re all part of the game — and some of them might not have much stuff for collectors to grab.
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