Anthony Edwards’ Playoff Brilliance Sparks Wave in Trading Card Values

Minnesota’s rising star Anthony Edwards poured in 29 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists last night to give the Timberwolves a 2–1 edge over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, and the hobby has taken notice. At just 24, Edwards is already carving out a postseason legacy—last year he dispatched Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokic en route to the Western Conference Finals—and now he’s two wins away from toppling one of basketball’s most storied franchises.

Trading‐card markets moved swiftly after Thursday’s performance. A PSA-9 2020 National Treasures Patch Auto (/99) fetched $44,000, its highest mark since May 2024 and up from $36,600 last December (it peaked at $58,800 in 2022). Meanwhile a PSA-10 2021 Crown Royale Kaboom! (/75) sold for $8,699—matching its January price and close to the $9,400 it reached on April 11—and a PSA-9 National Treasures Patch Auto Horizontal (/75) climbed to $7,236. Those gains underline how on-court heroics can translate directly into card‐market momentum. The Anthony Edwards Prizm Rookie Prices have all doubled in price as well.

Edwards’ late-season surge has only amplified the buzz. After a slow start, Minnesota has gone 19-5 over its last 24 games, and Edwards averaged 31.4 points per game in April. Collectors often chase cards when a player is heating up—and with Edwards showing up in every big moment, demand is surging for his rare parallels and autographs.

His flair under the playoff spotlight—playing fearless against LeBron, leading a young core that’s unafraid of any superstar—has cemented Edwards as more than just “the next big thing.” In hobby circles, he’s already arrived. As Edwards takes aim at closing out this series, expect top‐tier card prices to follow every step of his title chase.

With potentially defining moments still to come, collectors will be watching his autograph‐inscribed patch cards and hard-signed parallels even more closely. If Edwards continues this run, the next wave of record sales could be just around the corner.

The controversy only intensified when LeBron James himself hopped into the fray, pointing to the NBA rulebook and famously declaring, “Hand is part of the ball.” Speaking after the game, he argued that stripping the ball from Edwards—whose hand was clearly gripping it—should have been ruled a legal steal. Despite video replays showing the hand-on-top contact, officials stuck to their guns, sparking debate over how consistently such plays are officiated in the postseason. Social media and basketball forums lit up as fans dissected every angle, with many suggesting that a single interpretive call like this can swing not just a quarter, but the entire momentum of a tight series.