Wembanyama's Finals Run Is Rewriting the Topps NOW Record Book as Spurs-Knicks Heats Up

Victor Wembanyama has the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals, and the trading-card market is reacting in real time. Between record-setting Topps NOW print runs and rookie cards surging on the secondary market, Wemby's deep playoff run is producing some of the loudest hobby noise of the year.

The Series So Far

The Spurs trail the New York Knicks in the best-of-seven Finals, but the gap is closing. After dropping the first two games in San Antonio, San Antonio took Game 3 on June 8 with a 115-111 win, powered by a 32-point, 8-rebound, 6-assist night from Wembanyama that cut the Knicks' lead to 2-1. Every Wemby Finals moment is now a potential card, and collectors are buying.

Topps NOW Is Rewriting Its Own Record Book

The on-demand Topps NOW program has turned Wemby's run into a print-run phenomenon:

• His Game 1 Western Conference Finals card (#315) reached a print run of 80,578 copies, ranking among the largest in Topps NOW history.
• His WCF MVP card printed more than 63,000 copies.
• Even the Spurs' WCF team card cleared 50,000 copies.

Those numbers tell two stories at once: enormous demand, and enormous supply. Big print runs make these cards accessible souvenirs of the moment, but they also cap the long-term scarcity premium, something buyers should keep in mind before treating a 80,000-print Topps NOW card as an investment.

The Rookie Market Reacts

The secondary market for Wemby's established rookies has heated up alongside the Finals run. Copies of his 2023-24 Panini Prizm Silver rookie in a PSA 10 holder changed hands for roughly $3,300 to $3,500 in late May. And looming over everything is the benchmark sale that reset his ceiling: a 2023-24 Panini Prizm Black 1-of-1 rookie that sold for a reported $5.11 million in a private Fanatics Collect transaction, the most valuable non-autograph sports card ever recorded.

When a generational player reaches the Finals, his cards stop trading on stats and start trading on narrative. Wemby is the narrative right now.

What to Watch

If the Spurs extend the series, expect each Wembanyama performance to spawn another Topps NOW card and another wave of rookie demand. The smart collector play is to separate the keepsake from the investment: grab the Topps NOW cards you love as memorabilia, but treat the scarce, low-numbered rookies as the pieces with real long-term upside.