NBA Top Shot is the latest craze that has given hundreds of thousands of basketball fans a new way to increase their enjoyment of the game. Personally, I have lost hundreds of hours and over a thousand dollars in deposits in my first year alone.
This article is written for someone coming onto the platform for the first time who is unsure of how to start. It is intended as the first in a series that will grow in depth as does my own portfolio. I have already more than doubled the value of my account over my initial deposits in less than a year.
I will assume the average new Top Shot collector can afford $100 for an initial deposit. This amount is likely far less than most people would spend all-in going to an NBA game itself.
NBA Top Shot – How to Spend Your First $100
My First NBA Top Shot Pack Rip
The first thing I would do is buy the Kevin Durant Starter Pack. All new members to Top Shot are eligible for special promotions that periodically change over time. The current offer is a series 3 base pack that includes a guaranteed Kevin Durant base moment. The pack itself will cost you $9, but the Durant moment alone currently goes for around $14. I also get three randomized moments from series 3 that include potentially very valuable rookie moments, several of which are hundreds of dollars each.
The most likely scenario is, however, that I will pull 3 undesirable moments that I can sell for $2. Let’s assume I am unlucky and get three moments that I do not want to keep. I still picked up a very nice Durant moment for just $3 that I can hold for the long term. The moment itself is unique because it includes commentary by Kevin himself, a feature that is the first of its kind and should help to hold its value.
The Challenge
The next thing I would do is complete the challenge showdown that requires my new Durant moment. Simply go to the challenge tab and complete the showdown as instructed. I will need four moments total to complete this so you will need to either wait to sell your other three moments or buy three new ones from the marketplace (more on that below).
Doing so will qualify me for a free series 2 base pack. The second series is more valuable than the first, so you should average about $18 of value in your second pack. I recommend selling those right away as you should be focusing on the cheaper series 3 moments to start.
If I do all that successfully, I will have one free Durant moment and an additional $15 in your account more than you deposited. That is a nice start, but the fun has just begun.
My Favorite Team
The next thing is to declare my favorite team in the account profile section. There are 30 teams to choose from, but in my opinion, there are incorrect answers. No kidding, you can cheer for any team you want, even the Magic.
I would then go to the marketplace and buy the five cheapest $3 (or less) moments from my favorite team. Doing this will immediately boost my collector score to over 100. That will not be important now, but it may be in the future.
Now I will have six moments and still the original $100 I deposited into my account.
My Base Moments
The next I recommend is picking up some of the cheaper moments from NBA all-stars. Again we are focusing only on series 3 as they are the cheapest and offer the highest utility. There are a handful of NBA Top Shot greats who currently have moments for only $3. This is where I would start.
Trae Young, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Jayson Tatum, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Nikola Vucevic, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Anthony Davis, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Jimmy Butler, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Karl-Anthony Towns, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Julius Randle, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Damian Lillard, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Chris Paul, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Devin Booker, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Pascal Siakam, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Donovan Mitchell, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Bradley Beal, Series 3 – 60K, $3
Slightly more expensive but still a great deal,
Darius Garland, Series 3 – 60K, $4
Luka Doncic, Series 3 – 60K, $4
Giannis Antekokounmpo, Series 3 – 60K, $4
Stephen Curry, Series 3 – 60K, $8
Kevin Durant $14, Series 3 – 60K , $14 (owned)
These moments should cost you about $59 leaving me with $41 left to spend and 23 moments total (including the five from my favorite team).
The Speculation
That list contains only series 3 base moments. Not all players currently have base moments for series 3, so if there are any notable exceptions you expected to see above, that is the reason. Several second-tier stars including LaMelo Ball, DeMar DeRozan, and Fred VanVleet, have 10K edition moments which are rare. The price for such moments will of course be more than the base moments which have an edition size of 60,000.
The cheapest LeBron James moment currently sits at $50 so that may be out of many budgets to start.
I want to splurge a little with my final $41 so I’m looking to get the best card I can with what I have left. What collection is complete without Ja Morant? He is the only most exciting player to watch in the game today. I’m looking at his series 3 – 10K moment which I bought for my own portfolio a couple of months ago for $14 that now sits at $29. It should continue to go up in time. Give me the Zach LaVine as well to round out my buying spree.
Zach LaVine, Series 3 – 10K, $12
Ja Morant, Series 3 – 10K, $29
For $100, I now have 25 great moments to enjoy including several all-stars. If you follow my advice, you will have a good base that will set you up well to participate in the flash challenges NBA Top Shot has been running on a nearly nightly basis. Doing the challenges can be the best way for small collectors to grow their portfolios without dropping a tonne of cash.
Enjoy and happy collecting. Hopefully, your boss and spouse do not resent too much being ignored when you spend all day scrolling the marketplace.
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