1972 TOPPS No. 32
PHIL JACKSON
For those of you enjoying "The Last Dance" on ESPN, as I am, here's the first basketball card of Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers coaching great Phil Jackson.
The most interesting aspect of this card -- and many like it from its era -- is that the player has his jersey on backward. For a few years, Topps didn't have the rights from the NBA to show team nicknames, so players were photographed with their jerseys on backward so that the team name wouldn't appear in the photo. By this set, 1972, Topps had come to an agreement so that team nicknames could be shown, but some photos used in that set seem to have been taken before the rules changed.
So, here's Phil Jackson with his jersey on backward:
For most of his career (1968-80), Jackson was a part-time player. He'd been in the league for four years before this, his first card, was produced. He just hadn't made the cut. In 1971-72 with the New York Knicks, Jackson averaged 7.2 points (then a career high) in just under 16 minutes per-game.
The centering on this card obviously is off. It seems from the prices that that might be common for this card, as it often was in manufacturing. Often you'll see many examples of a card exhibit the same centering error. There are 669 PSA-graded '72 Phil Jacksons -- 54 9s and only four 10s. Collectors will pay up for the nicely centered versions: A PSA 9 Jackson sold on eBay for more than $600 just last week. This card is clean without the centering problems and would sell for around $25.
There are 264 cards in the '72 set, including players from both the NBA and ABA. The biggest card in the set is the Julius Erving rookie, card No. 195. A PSA 9 may sell for a few thousand dollars. Out of 3,274 Dr. J rookies graded by PSA, there's only been one 10.