NBA Card Sets & Brands

The NBA card landscape just went through the biggest change in a generation. Understanding both the products that defined the modern hobby and the recent license shift is essential to navigating basketball cards today. This guide supports our full NBA trading cards guide.

The license shift

For more than a decade, Panini held the exclusive NBA license and defined the modern basketball hobby. Beginning with the 2025-26 season, the exclusive NBA license moved to Fanatics (which owns Topps), part of a sweeping industry consolidation that also saw Fanatics take over the MLB and NFL licenses. That means newly licensed NBA cards — with team logos and NBA branding — now come from Topps/Fanatics, while Panini's basketball products moving forward are unlicensed (no team logos or league marks).

The Panini era that defined the modern hobby

Even as the license moves on, the Panini-era products remain hugely important on the secondary market, because they include the rookie cards of nearly every current star:

• Prizm — the flagship of the modern basketball hobby. Prizm's chromium base and rainbow of colored parallels made it the most recognizable and chased basketball product of its era.
• Select — known for its tiered design (Concourse, Premier, Courtside) and popular parallels.
• Donruss Optic — the chromium version of Donruss, a popular mid-range option.
• National Treasures — the premium end, home to some of the most valuable modern rookie patch autographs.

Because these products contain the rookies of today's stars, Panini-era NBA cards will remain central to the market for years, license change or not.

The Fanatics/Topps era

With the license now at Topps/Fanatics, collectors can expect basketball products modeled on the company's established formats — flagship, Chrome, and premium autograph and memorabilia lines — carrying full NBA licensing. As the transition unfolds, keep an eye on which new products become the go-to for licensed rookies going forward.

How to navigate the transition

• Know what's licensed. Going forward, fully licensed NBA cards (with logos) come from Topps/Fanatics; new Panini basketball is unlicensed.
• Panini-era rookies still matter. The existing Prizm, Select, and National Treasures rookies of current stars remain core to the market.
• Watch the new flagship. As Topps/Fanatics establishes its NBA lineup, its equivalents to Prizm will shape the next era of rookie chasing.

These products produce the chase covered in our rookie cards guide, and the biggest hits become the most valuable cards.